Alliance Defense Force 2157
by IHW
Summary: With the Ravagers defeated once and for all, the Earth Defense Force spreads outwards from earth and become the Alliance Defense Force as they prepare for any and all threats to humanity. Whether the enemy is overzealous turians, slavers or giant sentient dreadnoughts, the ADF will take them all on with big guns, ships, bipedal mechs, giants insects and dragons.
1. Prologue

**NOTE:To save time for anyone wondering what kind of story this is, the answer is "not a serious one". The game this story crosses over with EDF which is a humourous game that doesn't take itself seriously. So if you're here for an extremely serious story, or even moderately serious, I'll save you time and say that you'll be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a zany story with OP uberpatriotic humans with big guns, giant insects, ships and mechs, dragons, and fights against reapers on foot, you've come to the right place.**

**Address to EDF 2025 game trailer (will also give you a heads up what to expect), just add a "/" after the Youtube address and follow with: watch?v=FvvnPCMNu84**

Alliance Defense Force 2157

In 2013, SETI received radio waves that originated from space, thus proving the existence of extraterrestrial life. The scientists were able to conclude that the ones who created the signal were on their way to Earth.

By 2015, most nations of the world united together to create the Earth Defense Force, or EDF, in case the visitors turn out to be hostile. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were recruited from government armies and mercenary companies in order to have a global defense in time for the aliens' arrival. While most of humanity believed that the aliens would come in peace, the governments chose to be cautious.

The aliens arrived in May 2017. The EDF called them Ravagers. Despite attempts to communicate with the aliens, the Ravagers immediately attacked with genetically altered insects. This signalled the start of the Ravager War.

During this brutal war, the EDF fought against giant ants, spiders, bipedal 100-foot tall mechs known as Hectors, gunships and other alien ships, and giant 120-foot cyborg lizards. EDF went through hell defending their world and people from Ravager forces, but in July 2018, the Ravagers were finally defeated. The victory came at a heavy cost. Hundreds of millions lives were lost and trillions of dollars worth of property damage was inflicted worldwide.

With the war at an end, humanity could focus on rebuilding and scavenging technology from the Ravagers. Thanks to global unity and the technology recovered, humanity was able to recover within several years. The EDF was able to upgrade its current forces with what was recovered. Rangers and Support were outfitted with stronger armour, guns and gear. Fencers replaced the original tank class units, with their power armour technology and massive weapons. Wing divers replaced Jets, however, due to limitation of armour covering due to the Ravager jet-tech, the class is an all female unit.

The EDF became a cultural phenomenom. Merchandising spread across every market. Civilians could buy anything from EDF t-shirts to blu-ray discs of a live-action show featuring a Wing Diver unit taking on giant monsters.

Eight years later, the Ravagers returned. The original force the EDF faced was only a scouting fleet as this new force was ten times larger. The aliens deployed an even larger variety of enemies that overwhelmed EDF soldiers. Their insects and mechs were stronger and they deployed flying insects such as wasps and one species that was designed to look and fight like a dragon. Despite the odds, the EDF were able to defeat the Ravagers a second time. Storm 1 was especially noted for their sacrifice in destroying the Brain ship that controlled the majority of Ravager forces and the Earth Eater fleet.

The result of the war was far more devastating than the first. Half of humanity was wiped out and EDF was once again in shambles. Due to how the Ravagers took humanity surprise a second time, the world's governments initiated a new resolution that required every human to enroll in EDF for a minimum of two years and, in case of invasion, be recalled into duty.

Their fears of a third invasion were proven true when the Ravagers returned in 2054 in far greater numbers than the previous two invasions. The war was brutal, but with EDF's newest technology and the fighting spirit of humanity, EDF was triumphant.

VVVVV

It has been several hours since the Mastership was taken out of the sky. Ravager units and ships across the globe followed suit as they either stopped functioning or simply fell to the ground. Despite the damage the Mastership took, there still remained sections of it that were relatively undamaged and still needed to be investigated. Due to the skill and valour they displayed during the third Ravagar War, Tsunami Team 1 was selected to infiltrate. The team consisted of a Ranger commander, a Fencer, an Air Raider, and a Wind Diver.

"What do you see, Ranger?" Command called in through the comm.

"Really silvery halls," she replied back. "I have no idea why these aliens like metallic silver so much."

"No signs of opposition?"

"No, sir," the Ranger assured Command. "Though these halls are too small even for their smallest troops."

"Their smallest troops are giant ants," Wing Diver pointed out.

"True. Honestly after taking on giant spiders and dragons, some human size enemies would be a breath of fresh air."

"Stay vigiliant, Tsunami 1. We have no idea what defences this Mastership has on the inside."

"We'll be cautious, sir. Ranger, out."

"So what do you think these Ravagers look like?" the Fencer asked the Ranger.

"No idea. Their forces are so varied, they could look like anything."

"I'm betting bugs!" the Air Raider chipped in. "They are so obsessed with insects, they must look like some creepy space bug."

"I thought that their insect forces were only created to scare humanity," Diver said.

"You mean like when you were caught in that Retiarius web?" Raider laughed.

"Hey! You try being immobolized by webbing as a building-sized spider comes over to eat you." Diver turned to the Fencer. "Thank you, for slicing that spider in half and getting me out."

"No problem," Fencer replied. "I always love to make bugs go squash."

"Quiet down," Ranger said. "We're here."

The team stood in front of a double door. Above it was words in the Ravager's language.

"According to Command, this should be the main control room. If there's going to be any opposition, it'll definitely be in here. Be ready for anything. Raider, get us through this door."

Raider went up to the door. "Let's see what kind of system I have to hack through-"

The doors opened before Raider could make the attempt.

"Huh. Should we proceed, m'am?"

Ranger pondered for a moment. "Yes, but I smell a trap. Ready your weapons."

The squad walked into the control room. The room was poorly lit by red emergency lights. The room was no bigger than a standard bridge.

"This room is nowhere near large enough to hold the usual Ravager troops."

"No, it isn't," a voice reverberated through the room.

Despite facing giant insects and building-size mechs without so much as flinching, Tsunami 1 couldn't help but feel a chill go down their spine hearing the inhuman voice.

"Do not fear..." the voice assured in its smug tone. "The war is over and your species has won."

The team moved into the control room. In the center was a chair that faced dozens of monitors that gave its viewer knowledge of events all around the world. The chair rotated as the soldiers approached. Sitting in the chair was a member of the race that attempted to wipe out humanity. The Ravager was very slender and had leathery brown skin. Its head was large; too large for its body. Many tubes were connected to its body and numerous cybernetic mods on its body were obvious.

"You can speak english?" Raider asked it.

"My people were capable of space flight for over several hundred thousand of your years. We mastered genetic manipulation and AI technology. Understanding and speaking the grunts you call the english language is well within my capabilities."

The Fencer swung his eight foot long sword and held it towards the Ravager. "Watch your mouth, alien."

"If you think threating me with death will change my mood, you're too late." The Ravager removed his hand from his stomach revealing a puncture wound. "I don't have much time left. I know you hate my race, and with good reason, but all I ask is that you listen to me."

"Put your weapon down, Fencer," the Ranger ordered.

"Yes, m'am," the Fencer responded and immediately rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Good. You called my race Ravagers." He chuckled weakly. "An apt name consider what we have done, but know that we did not do what we have done without reason."

"Reason enough to slaughter billions of lives?!" Diver yelled in frustration.

"Diver, let him finish," Ranger said in her calm voice.

Diver backed down immediately, not wanting to upset her CO.

"My race was... Is known as the Arthenn." A hologram appeared above them all showing the Milky Way galaxy. A reticle focused on one section of the galaxy and zoomed in. "We came from the Zelene system." The zoom stopped on one planet. "Helyme, our world. Our once beautiful world. Over 300, 000 years ago."

"How would your people know what your world look like 300, 000 years ago," Raider asked.

"Stopping the aging process is another simple feat, human," the Ravager chided. He went on to continue his tale. "We advanced until we became a space faring race. We needed to expand our people so we sent probes to all possible nearby systems that could support life. It was then we made the greatest discovery in our people's history." The hologram focused on a nearby system. "The Tasale system. It contained a massive alien artifact." The hologram focues on a two-pronged shaped space station. "A mass relay."

"A mass relay?" Diver repeated.

"An ingenius device. It create a conduit that allowed near instaneous travel to another mass relay. It operated on a principle that we called mass effect. By using an element called element zero, we were able to apply a charge to it to change the mass of anything."

"The EDF would surely like to get their hands on that stuff," Ranger noted.

"No!" the Ravager yelled. "All of it! The devices. The element. It was all a trap!"

"A trap?"

"We based our technology on these devices. We were able to spread across the galaxy quickly but we lost our innovation. We thought nothing of it as we were able to still spread across the galaxy and colonize new worlds. We even discovered the center of the network of mass relays." A hologram of a large space station that was similar to a starfish in shape. "The Citadel. Not once did we ever think about what happened to the race before us. We were cattle being prepared for the slaughter."

"Slaughtered by what?" Ranger asked.

The hologram shifted and focused on a cuttlefish-shaped ship.

"We do not know what they are called. We only gave them an equally apt name as Ravager. Reapers. We thought the mass relays and the Citadel were created by an alien race that went extinct long ago. We were wrong. They were created by the Reapers."

"Why would they create the relays?"

"To make sure that we developed along their ideal pathway of technology. So when they invaded, we would not be advance enough to fight back. I don't know why they slaughtered us or the races before us or after. Only that every fifty thousand years, they come through the Citadel relay and initiate their campaign. We couldn't fight back as all our weapons were turned against us. Unlike you humans, we couldn't rely on our physical prowess. We used only our minds. We had mechs, but the Reapers easily hacked them and turned our own creations against us. Only a few of us escaped. We became nomads as we avoided mass relays. We focused on developing outside of their pathways of technology. We even developed an alternative to mass effect FTL and teleportation technology. We searched for eons for a new world to colonize. Eventually we found this one."

"Too bad it was already in use," Diver interjected.

The Ravager looked at the Ranger captain. "You. You're the leader of this group responsible for taking down my most prized ship. On foot... What is your name?"

"Captain Hannah Shepard."

The Ravager waved his hand and the computer system nearby lit up. "All our knowledge is within these databanks. Use it to avoid the same mistakes we made. Destroy any mass relays you come across. Stop the reapers."

"You're helping us?" Shepard asked.

"Do not think I'm doing this for your sake!" the Ravager growled. "I still feel no remorse over slaughtering your people. However, I hate the reapers far more. This knowledge is my people's legacy. By using this knowledge you shall preserve my people's legacy." The Ravager grinned. His time was short. "My people's legacy won't die with me..."

"Burn in hell, you son of a bitch," Fencer growled.

"Tsunami 1 come in," Commander chirped in over the radio.

"Tsunami 1 here, Command," Shepard answered. "The Mastership is now cleared."

"Good job."

"We recovered a databank that contains all the knowledge the Ravagers has gathered, however we found that there is an even worse threat."

"You're kidding?"

"Rangers don't kid when it comes to Earth's future. But with the information in these databanks, we can fight back."

VVVVV

2055 - The third Ravager War comes to an end. The last of the Ravagers were wiped out in this war giving humanity relief that they have one less enemy in the galaxy. However with news of the Reapers, the EDF could not rest. The world focused on reverse engineering Ravager technology and using their databanks to bring humanity into a new golden age.

2054 - Tsunami squad are given the task of training new recuits in the EDF.

2056 - Nanotechnology developed from Ravager nanotech and genetic technology puts an end to all disease and aging.

2061 - Majority of Earth cities are cleared of Ravager debris and are restored.

2062 - Scientists manage to understand Ravager genetic technology concerning the giant insetcs they deployed. Now EDF is able to create and control giant insects. While control over giant ants and spiders was able to supply them with endless labour and troops, the main focus was on the dragons. The Ravagers used a dragonfly as the base genetics for the dragon and genetically engineered its DNA with reptile and bombardier beetle DNA to create this ferocious beast. With the ability to control them, the EDF employed dragons in their army creating a new soldier class: Dragon Riders. These riders and their mounts are moderately armoured and the riders are each equipped with a small scale version of the Fencer's force blade, an smg and a rocket launcher.

2063 - Barrier technology mastered.

2064 - Newest line of EDF starships are deployed.

2065 - The lunar colony of Armstrong is established as a military outpost.

2068 - Intact Earth Eaters are reprogrammed to be able to convert worlds into habitable worlds. They are renamed Earth Makers.

2072 - Earth's population returns to pre-wars level.

2073 - Earth Makers are sent to Mars to terraform it to prepare it for colonization.

2074 - Mars is terraformed to have an Earth-like atmosphere. Colonization ships are sent to its surface.

2078 - Miners excavate alien ruins on Mars. Translators discover the ruins belong to an alien race known as the Protheans. Scientists are put to work on decoding the Prothean archive.

2080 - The first self aware EDF AI is born. The AI is employed in the EDF to assist in human expansion. The AI is named ADAM.

2081 - AI development is put into force, currently creating one AI person every month. Physical bodies are created to house the AI. Synthetic bodies look like a real human except for their glowing eyes. AI soldiers are given the class name Lightning Guard.

2083 - Colonies created on Saturn's and Jupiter's moons.

2084 - One of Pluto's moons is found to be a mass relay that was encased in ice. The relay is activated and scout ships are sent through to map the otherside. The found that the mass relay went to the Arcturus system. From there the scout ships were able to map out three other systems that the Arcturus relay linked to.

2085 - With the knowledge from the Ravagar databanks, the EDF were able to deactivate and dismantle Sol's and Arcturus' relay. The EDF creates the Storm Protocol. The protocol calls for every mass relay the EDF discovers to be mapped and then be dismantled.

2086 - EDF releases the Chronus, the first super-dreadnought class ship.

2088 - EDF creates the EDEN project. The goal is to locate all possible habitable worlds for the EDF to colonize.

2091 - EDF colonizes Eden Prime. The planet is named after the project that found it.

2092 - EDF and Earth's government goes through reforms to match their territory expansion. Humanity's government is renamed Systems Alliance and Earth Defense Force to Alliance Defense Force.

2094 - ADF colonizes Terra Nova and Tyr.

2100 - Humanity's population reaches 20 billion. AI population reaches 1 million.

2103 - The last of humanity's kinetic projectile weapons are retired from service. Lasers and plasma weapons are now standardized.

2115 - More habitable worlds are found in the Exodus Cluster and are quickly colonized.

2127 - ADF fleet number reaches 10 super-dreadnought, 50 dreadnoughts, 30 carriers, 200 cruisers, and 500 frigates.

2133 - Humanity sends probes to other star systems in search of new habitable worlds.

2137 - Jane Shepard is born.

2141 - Majority of Exodus Cluster star systems are colonized.

2152 - Shanxi-Theta system is discovered as a candidate for human expansion.

2156 - Shanxi is colonized.

2157 - Scouts activate the Shanxi-Theta mass relay. The scouts are found by a turian patrol are are attacked. The scouts retreated through the mass relay back to Shanxi. The patrol follow through the relay in an attempt to subjugate the law-breaking race.

VVVVV

3 days later...

General Desolas Arterius walked quickly through the hospital. He approached the front desk. An asari sat there reading through her computer.

"Where is Admiral Decimus Geta?" Desolas demanded.

The asari looked up and saw Desolas. "Oh, General. He's in room 121 in intensive care, but I don't think it's a good idea to see him yet."

"High Command wants to know what happened at Relay-314." Desolas walked by her.  
"I don't have the luxury of patience."

The asari nurse quickly got up and followed. "I don't think you understand the situation, General. He's not in intensive care just for physical injuries."

Desolas stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

"Admiral Geta..." The asari struggled to think of how to explain the situation. "Something happened at 314. Something terrible. Whatever the Admiral saw on the other side, traumatized him. He's been babbling nonsense since he arrived here. Even yelling that Wanyudo are coming for him."

"Wanyudo?"

"Yes. You know what he is talking about?"

"Wanyudo in turian beliefs are evil spirits that eat other spirits. That's odd..."

"How so?"

"Admiral Geta is the most secular turian I know. There's no way he would believe such things."

"Then you understand how serious the situation is?"

"Regardless. The Admiral is the only survivor. We are currently recovering his ship's records, but it can only tell us so much."

The nurse gave up in trying to stop the General from entering Geta's room. Desolas saw that the Admiral had many cuts and burn wounds. He has never seen anything like it.

"Admiral?"

Geta turned his head and saw Desolas. "D-Desolas?"

"Yes, old friend." Desolas pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. "Do you know why I am here?"

"R-Relay-314."

"Good, good. High Command wants to know what happened. Can you try to tell me?"

"W-We were patrolling Relay-314 as usual. Then it suddenly activated. Several ships had come through. As per protocol, we went to punish the activators of the mass relay."

"Yes, very good," Desolas assured him. "Very good."

"Our sensors detected no eezo, so we thought this race was primitive. We were more than confident in our ability to take them down. Our attacks did nothing."

"What?"

"Our shots deflected off of some sort of shield."

"Shielding without eezo?"

"The ships retreated through the mass relay. Even with their shields we were confident. They didn't use eezo, so how could they fight back against us? How? W-We f-followed them back through the found their world and we tried to attack..."

"And?"

Suddenly Geta started to breath rapidly. "Th-They're too powerful! We are nothing to them! Nothing! No hope! They destroyed my entire fleet like were were mere insects." That word set him off. He rapidly shook back and forth. "Insects! Insects! Insects!"

Desolas slammed Geta back to his bed. "Who?" he demanded. "Who attacked you?!"

Geta stopped shaking. He stared dead-eyed at Desolas and whispered something too quiet for him to hear.

"What?"

Geta's voice grew louder as he repeated the same word over and over again. "ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF!"


	2. The Build Up

Chapter 1:

Desolas walked into the High Command chambers. In the center of the room sat Primarch Fedorian. By his side were several other high ranking turian officials. Each one commanded great power in not just in turian politics, but the military as well.

"What did you learn from Admiral Getas?" Fedorian asked Desolas, avoiding greetings all together.

"Very little," Desolas answered. "The Admiral found a new alien race illegally activating a mass relay. He attacked but the scouts were able to withstand his fleet's attack. The aliens immediately retreated back through the relay. Getas ordered his fleet to follow through the relay and subjugate the race. After that, Getas had a panic attack when he tried to remember what happened. The only thing I got out of it was 'ADF'."

"ADF?" Fedorian repeated.

"Unusual, I know."

"What do you think of the situation, General?" one of the officials asked.

"I know the Admiral personally. He's a brave and disciplined soldier. Whatever he faced on the otherside of the relay was not for the lighthearted. Whoever, whatever, this race is, it is powerful and brutal. And it is a threat to galactic order. We must act."

"Agreed," Fedorian said. His omni-tool beeped. He looked down at it. "It appears that we've managed to recover the ship's records. We can finally see what happened."

A holographic screen appeared in the middle of the room. The footage gave them the viewpoint of the flagship of the patrol fleet and footage inside the bridge of the cruiser flagship. The turians watched as the patrol fleet followed the scout ships back to their world of origin.

"Looks like they've led us right back to their homeworld," Getas said over the radio. "And look. It appears that those scouts ships are all they have."

The scout ships were able to return to their homeworld.

"What are our orders, sir?" the communication officer asked.

"I'm feeling merciful," Getas chuckled. "Sent a translation package along with a message. Record what I say now." The communication officer pressed a button on his dash. "Unknown race, this is turian patrol 314. You are to surrender to our forces and prepare to be subjugated by the turian Hierarchy. We will spare your lives if you do so. End message."

"Message is recorded."

"Send it. We'll wait a bit and if we get nothing we will attack. I'd prefer not to waste our soldiers lives needlessly if we can scare this race into submission."

"Very generous of you, sir," the XO said.

The turians did not have to wait long before receving a response. They were expecting several hours. They received a reply within minutes.

"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the world," the communication officer said to Getas.

"Already? These aliens couldn't have already translated our language. Play the transmission."

"Playing."

The transmission played in perfect turian. "Turian patrol, this is General Wiliams of the Alliance Defense Force. We will not surrender to your forces. The ADF never surrenders! If you wish to start a war, the ADF will not hold back."

"Arrogant aliens!" Getas cursed. "Fine. If they wish to die needlessly, we'll grant them their wish. XO, take over. I wish to oversee the ground forces personally."

"You sure it's safe to do so, sir?"

"These aliens don't use eezo. Any weapons they use would be primitive compared to what we are equipped with. We'll be back before you know it."

Fedorian fast-forward through the footage. They watched as the fleet launched several hundred drop ships. He continued until the chamber could see a single drop ship return from the planet roughly two hours later according to the recording. Fedorian returned the footage back to regular speed.

"XO, order the fleet for a full retreat," Getas said in a panicked voice. He was short of breath. It wasn't from exhaustion. Getas was on the brink of going into shock.

"Yes, sir. What happened? Where are the others?"

"They're all dead. We never stood a chance. These aliens are more powerful than we could possibly imagine. The things they did... Spirits, we need the entirety of the Hierarchy's forces to subdue them. They cannot be allowed to attack the galaxy! They're monsters. Worse than the krogan!"

The Admiral's dropship returned to the ship.

"Orders to fleet, full retreat," the XO announced over the fleet radio. "I repeat, full retreat."

"Sir, there's something coming from the planet," the tactical officer said.

"What is it?" the Admiral asked as he reached the bridge.

"It's a ship, but not one of the scout ships we followed. It appears to be a cruiser-class ship."

"Do not engage that ship!" Getas ordered. "Get our fleet to the relay."

"Ship is rapidly gaining on us. Spirits, how fast is this ship?!"

The turians were closing in on the mass relay.

"Something is happening with the ship. It's morphing."

"What?" Getas yelped.

"It's what I'm seeing. The ship cracked open and a large cannon emerged from its inside- Weapon is charging up!"

"Brace yourselves!"

The cruiser fired a white laser beam that swept through the patrol fleet and was followed by explosions. All over the bridge, consoles and terminals exploded, killing the could only guess how much damage the rest of his ship took if the bridge is this bad. He was launched out of his chair during the attack. Getas struggled to reach the pilot's chair where his pilot sat dead. He activated the mass relay to escape.

"S-Spirits help us all..."

The footage ended.

"We discovered the Admiral in his heavily damaged ship a couple days later," Fedorian said. "He was near death and delirious."

"That was... disturbing," Desolas muttered. "What was that weapon they used?"

"It looks like a laser weapon," one of the military officials said.

"Impossible!" another official yelled. "Neither the Hierarchy, the salarians or asari have been able to create energy weapons on this scale. It has to be some kind of trick."

"Trick or not, what is clear is that this race is a clear and present danger to galactic security," Fedorian concluded. "We must put together a fleet and quickly subdue them."

"I volunteer to lead this fleet," Desolas offered.

"Very good. I want this race subdued and their technology taken. It is something different and would benefit the Hierarchy. Desolas you will have first, third, fifth and sixth fleet under your command. This is enough to start a war with the asari and slarians and sustain it for months. It should be more than enough to quick defeat this ADF."

Desolas chuckled. "The ADF will know what terrors this galaxy can hold."

VVVVV

"And you are sure, they're not reapers?" Hackett asked Williams.

The two military officials spoke through holograms.

"More than sure, Admiral," Williams assured him. "It's a race known as turians. They are fairly primitive compared to us, but it appears it is because they have fallen for the reaper trap the Ravagers warned us about."

Even though the war ended over a hundred years ago, humanity still did not show any respect for the dead as they still called the Arthenn, Ravagers.

"Can we expect another attack?" Hackett asked.

"After what we've learned about their people from datamining their ships, it's a certainty."

"Can we dismantle the mass relays before then?"

"With our current resources, it would take a month to do so."

"We'll send reinforcements then. What have you learn from the databanks the Lightning Guard mined?"

"The Hierarchy is fairly similar to us. They are a very militaristic race that has everyone enlist in their military for a set period of time. But we've found that the turians are part of a galactic government. A government that consists of over a dozen races."

"What can you tell me about these other races."

"They base their government on the Citadel."

"That's a problem."

"Indeed."

"Continue."

"The government has three races at the head. The asari and the salarians are the founding members of the government, and the turians are the most recent addition to the Council. The asari play the role of the diplomats, salarian are intelligence and the turians are the main military force of the Citadel. The other races are associate members and from what we can tell, do not enjoy the same rights as Council members."

"Then why join the Council?"

"Each race's government still has their autonomy save for following several conventions. We're not sure what those conventions entail as that part of the codex was corrupted. But the associate races get increased trade and added security."

"Do you believe the Council will intervene in the conflict with the turians?"

"Not likely at first. We expect that the asari will attempt a diplomatic mission after we beat back the turians."

"Okay. General you've faced this turian army. How confident are you in our forces against the Hierarchy?"

"Honestly?"

"Speak freely."

"They're a joke. Their weapons, armour and ships are primitive compared to ours. They still use kinetic projectile weapons. They also use very small scale ground units. The largest units they have in their arsenal are tanks and troops carriers. When up against our soldiers, we have them beat in both speed and strength."

"I see. Now according to your report, you ordered the usage of the genocide beam against the turian fleet."

"It was a measure ordered to scare away the turians so they didn't attempt to bombard Shanxi from orbit. We had no idea that their barriers would be so ineffective against our attacks. We compared the technology between their soldier's armour and their ships and we found that their barriers for both their soldier and ships operate on the same principles. They can only reflect accelerated kinetic attacks."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, their barriers are meant to take fire from their weapons, but not from the laser or plasma shots that our weapons fire. Even dragon fire can get through their shields."

"Then we don't have much to fear. Regardless, I don't want you to underestimate the turians. I don't want what happened during the second Ravager war."

"Understood."

VVVVVV

Desolas stepped into the Presidium. Before the turian fleet is sent to the ADF world, the Hierarchy felt it would be proper to let their Councilor know about it. He was also there to meet with his brother Saren.

"It's not often you come to the Citadel, Desolas."

"Damn it, Saren!" Desolas growled as he turned around. "You know I hate it when you do that."

"Being quiet in my approach is second-nature to me," Saren said with a grin. "It's one of the reasons why I was asked to join the spectres. Now tell me what brings you to the Citadel. Your message said it was urgent."

"Walk with me. We're going to meet with Councilor Sparatus."

They walked at a brisk pace to the embassy.

"Now what is the emergency?" Saren asked.

"We made first contact with a violent race and we're preparing an attack fleet to take this race down before they become a threat to the galaxy. I want you to join this assault with me."

"Tell me everything."

VVVVVV

Rain poured over the grassy plains. In the distance a giant dark grey machine moved towards a nearby human city. The creature resembled a cuttlefish back on earth. The only thing standing between this monstrosity and the human city was a squad of five Wing Divers: Athena, Artemis, Selene, Eos and Artemis.

"Your efforts will be in vain," the creature stated. Its voice echoed throughout the plains. "You are mere insects compared to our might. I am Sacrosanct. Sentinel of those infinitely your greater."

The leader of the Wing Diver squad, Athena, smiled, rested her plasma caster on her shoulder and said, "Funny you mention insects. Because we are going to crush you like one, Sacrosanct."

"Your confidence is born in ignorance." Its voice shook the ground the Wing Divers stood on. "You cannot stop an eternal force of the galaxy. Surrender yourselves. We are your salvation through your destruction."

"Surrender? The ADF never surrenders!"

"We are this galaxy's only hope!" the squad yelled in unison as they struck a pose. "ADF!"

"Prepare yourself, Sacrosanct," Athena wanred. "Because you will find that our salvation... Is through your destruction. Goddesses of Victory, go!"

The five Wing Divers blasted off of the ground at full speed with their weapons aimed at the kilometer tall reaper. The reaper raised several of its appendages. The ends started to glow red as it prepares to fire.

The footage suddenly cut away as a newscaster appeared with a large banner beneath her stating "BREAKING NEWS".

"Hi, I'm Emily Wong. Welcome to the Alliance News Network. We interrupt this week's episode of Goddesses of Victory for breaking news. ADF high command has announced that it has made contact with a new alien race at the other end of the Shanxi mass relay. The aliens proved to be hostile as they attacked our scouting vessels without provocation. Luckily our scouts survived the attack and made it back home. The attacking aliens, or turians, as they call themselves, continued the conflict by attempting an invasion of Shanxi. Our military however was able to repel them after a short skirmish. ADF command is confident in its ability against this new alien threat as their level of technology is inferior to our own. As of now, the ADF is expecting another attack wave and so they have sent reinforcements to Shanxi. We will provide you with updates on this story as they become. We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast."

Sacrosanct's body was in shambles. Parts of its body was spread across the plains. The five Wing Divers stood in front of its red eye.

"I-Impossible," the reaper muttered.

"You reapers picked the wrong race to fight," Selene said.

"We are many. Your worlds will fall."

"So long as the ADF fights, you'll never take this galaxy." The five Wing Divers aimed their weapon at the eye and the barrel ends lit up.

VVVVVV

ACCESSING ALLIANCE DEFENSE FORCE DATABASE...

ACCESS GRANTED

OPENING ALLIANCE DEFENSE FORCE RECORDS...

ACCESSING TYPHOON TEAM DOSSIER...

TYPHOON TEAM

Name: Kaidan Alenko  
Age: 23  
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant  
Class: Air Raider  
Note: Kaidan Alenko is an intelligent, strategic and level-headed soldier. He shows great promise to become a great military leader.

Name: James Vega  
Age: 16  
Rank: Private 2nd Class  
Class: Fencer  
Note: Despite being in the military for a few months, James Vega has distinguished himself among his peers through his skill and quick thinking. He shows great enthusiasm for the ADF and loyalty to his fellow soldiers. His abilities are what got Lieutenant Shepard's attention when she form her team. Due to the potential this soldier possesses, it is highly recommended that he joins the N7 program as soon as possible.

Name: EDI  
Age: 5  
Rank: Service Chief  
Class: Lightning Guard  
Note: EDI is the first AI of her kind to be a true anti-reaper AI. While all previous AIs were designed to resist reaper hacking attempts (based on the Ravager database), EDI has the highest processing power ever given to an AI, giving her the theoretical ability to initiate cyberwarfare against reaper forces. While EDI occasional displays unprofessionalism through her "humour", she is highly competent when on the battlefield and works with great synergy with her team.

Name: Jeff Moreau  
Callsign: Joker  
Age: 19  
Rank: Flight Chief  
Class: Pilot  
Note: It is no exaggeration that Jeff Moreau is one of the most talented recruits ever admitted to ADF's flight Academy. Passing tests both written and simulation with flying colours, he had gained the attention of Jane Shepard when she was constructing her team. Joker serves as personal pilot for Typhoon team and as support on the battlefield by proving precision strikes and vehicle drops.

Name: Jane Shepard  
Age: 20  
Rank: Staff Lieutenant  
Class: Dragon Rider  
Dragon Name: Jin  
Dragon: 11m long, 2.2m tall at hip. Leviathan breed. Green with purple stripes.  
Dragon Abilities: Pyrosis, Regeneration, Venomous, Generates hurricane-force winds (only when grounded)  
Note: The only child of Daniel and Hannah Shepard. Jane Shepard has exceeded all expectations with her determination, leadership and combatitve skills in ADF's advance training sessions. She is the youngest graduate of the N7 program and attained the highest aptitude score since David Anderson.

RECOMMEND TYPHOON TEAM FOR DEPLOYMENT TO SHANXI.

VVVVVV

Calpamos

ADF Designation: Bug World

Calpamos was discovered by the EDEN project with one of their scout probes. It was a garden world that could support human life, however the planet contained no useful resources such as precious metals. On top of that, the world had an unpredictable weather pattern and frequent violent storms. Instead of wasting time and energy in terraforming the world, the ADF decided to make the world into a breeding colony for their insects and an advance training ground.

"So how many do you think there is?" Vega asked Kaidan.

Kaidan glanced up at the approaching ant and bee horde. He retained his calm demeanor as he deployed anti-air turrets. "Hmm... Don't know. Six, Seven hundred."

"Should make for an interesting fight then," EDI stated.

"You know the procedure," Shepard reminded her team as she mounted Jin. Shepard wore armoured that resembled futuristic knight armour. It was metallic with a blood splatter in the shape of a dragon as a decal on the front of her armour.

Jin roared, announcing its presence to the enemy.

"Easy there, Jin. You'll get your blood." Jane pressed her hand to her ear. "Joker, you there?"

"I'm here, Shepard. I'm available for support."

"Good. Kaidan, soften them up."

"Yes, SL," Kaidan replied as he pulled out his laser pointer. "Marking target." He aimed the pointer at the dead center of the ant horde.

"Target locked!" Joker announced. He flew in over the battlefield in Typhoon's private frigate, SSV Marathon.

The Marathon unleashed a barrage of plasma attacks on the location Kaidan marked. The explosions took up a large portion of the ant's attacking force.

"Attack successful. Sure did ruin their picnic."

"Now for the main course," Vega said as he primed his two force blades. On his back were his two mortars attached to his battery pack.

"Incoming bees!" EDI warned.

"Activating turrets!" Kaidan replied.

Kaidan's two turret came to life and fired at the bees.

"Jin, go, go, go!" Shepard smacked Jin in his right shoulder blade.

Jin flapped his wings and was airborne. The dragon unleashed its flame breath into a cluster of bees setting it ablaze. The bees fell to the ground coated in flames.

"Ants are closing in," Vega reminded the team.

"Setting up barrier walls to stop acid attacks," EDI said as she placed several devices on the ground. Each on created a wall twenty feet tall and ten feet wide.

"Firing on the ants." Vega launched plasma mortars on the newly grouped ants. "Direct hit!"

The green explosions launched dozens of ants into the air. One ant was still alive as it was launched. Jin swoop by and grabbed it out of the air. He dug into his treat as he flew.

Dragons while powerful creatures, had an extremely high metabolism. They had to eaten often throughout the day just to keep up its strength.

Shepard switched to her rocket launcher and fired it at any bees that came close to her or her dragon. Lasers were still being shot into the air around her. Thankfully due to the precision of the turrets, Shepard had no fear of being shot.

Below, the ants attempted to spray acid at the ground team but EDI's shielding stopped them. The ants walked through the barriers to attack them directly.

"Now you're in my range," Vega said as he swung his right sword. A line of energy passed through the ants directly in front of him. It moved through the ants for about 40 meters before it dissipated. He started charging the sword again and turned his head to the right seeing another group of ants closing in on him. "You wants some too?" He swung his left sword.

"Looks like he's having fun," EDI observed.

"Be honest, EDI," Kaidan said. "This is fun."

The ants were almost on top of EDI's position. "True." She created a dozen holographic copies of herself on the battlefield. The ants became confused as the copies appeared on the battlefield. One of the ants attempted to attack one of the holograms. EDI smiled. "Got you." The ant was electrocuted with a high voltage. The electricity jumped among the close by ants.

Kaidan had his sticky grenade launcher. He fired green plasma grenades that stuck to ants on the outskirts of the group. Once his launcher was emptied, he activated the grenades. It created a line of explosions that moved the ants inwards into a bunch making it easier for Vegas and EDI to eliminate them.

"Guys, I'm ready for another strike," Joker announced over the radio.

Kaidan took out his laser pointer. He aimed at the cluster of ants he created. "Finish them off, Joker."

The Marathon flew stright down from the sky and fired downwards at the ground before pulling up. The plasma barrage impacted the ant hordes creating a large explosion that enveloped the ant horde. After the light from the explosion died out, all that remained on the ground was one ant.

"That seems anti-climatic," Vegas muttered after seeing the ant.

"Not everything can end with one big explosion," Kaidan said as he undeploy his turrets.

"So. Who wants it?"

Before anyone could try to call it, Jin landed on the ant and began feasting on its prey. The sky was clear of bees.

"Well that answers that," Vegas shrugged.

Shepard jumped off of Jin. "That seems to be the end of it."

"Not very challenging," Vegas sighed.

No sooner had those words left his lips when a large ship flew over head. The team looked up and saw the cruiser-sized ship.

"Is that a..."

"Everybody, battle positions!" Shepard order as she jumped back on Jin's back. They took off into the air. "I'll keep it busy while you prepare."

The large metallic grey ship spun around on spot to face Typhoon. The parts of the ship shifted and extended. The ship flipped forward and morphed into a giant bipedal mech. The machine was easily a kilometer in height. It was equipped with giant plasma casters for forearms.

"Argo!" Vega yelled.

"Joker, I need a vehicle drop!" Kaidan demanded through the radio.

"Holy shit, is that an Argo?!" Joker yelled.

"Now, Joker!"

"Oh! Yeah! What do you need?"

"Drop the Kraken and Megalodon!"

"Coming right up."

The Marathon flew over head and dropped two large containers. The crates slammed into the ground and quickly dissipated leaving their cargo behind. One crate contained the BMV or Bipedal Mech Vehicle. The BMV was designated the Kraken. It was twenty feet tall and armed with a rail gun on its left arm, two rocket pods on its back, laser pointer and a powerful robotic hand for the right arm.

The other, the Megalodon, was a heavily armoured tank that hovered thanks to four thrusters that came out from its sides. For its weaponry, it was armed with a railgun as its primary weapon and a rocketpod for air units.

Kaidan jumped into the Kraken while EDI took the Meg. Vega jumped onto the top of the tank.

The Argo raised its arms and fired several rounds at the Marathon. The frigate dodged each shot barely by meters.

Shepard flew her dragon near the Argo's face. The dragon spat fire at the mech's face while Shepard fired several rockets from her launcher. "We need to do a combined assault," Shepard said over the radio. "Joker can you do another run?"

"Yes, Shepard."

The Argo swung its arm to swat Shepard. Shepard and Jin dodge the arm and continued distracting it while her squad got close enough to fire. "I need everyone to focus fire on the groin area," she ordered. "That's where it's weakest. The joints are not as reinforced as the upper area."

The vehicles stopped and aimed their railguns at the kilometer tall mech. Vega jumped off of the Meg and aimed his mortars.

"We're in position, SL," Kaidan announced on the radio.

"Kaidan mark the target. Everyone fire!"

The three squad mates unleashed a barrage against the Argo's groin. Shepard continued attacking its face to keep its targetting computer from attacking her squad mates. She could see the damage to the mech from her squad's was starting to weaken the Argo.

"I have target lock," Joker said. "Get out of there, Shepard!"

Jin flapped its wings and sped away. The Marathon flew towards the Argo and fired a full salvo at the area Kaidan marked. Combined with the ground assault, the groin area of the mech explosion in a large bright green explosion. Shepard and Jin could feel the heat of the explosion. The Argo's upper torso flipped forward as its bottom half was annihilated. The Argo face-planted the ground and its head and neck was crushed under the weight of the torso.

The Argo suffered a second explosion shortly after as its internal systems overloaded. Shepard just landed as it went off. Kaidan and EDI came out of their vehicle to join with Shepard.

Vega chuckled. "Bad asses never look at the explosion, right?" He held his hand up for a high-five. Shepard slapped it and laughed as well.

"I didn't think the ADF allowed Argos as a part of training," Kaidan said in disbelief.

"We usually don't but this was a special exception," a voice answered.

The squad turned around and saw a woman who looked almost exactly like Jane Shepard.

"Mom?" Jane muttered as she walked forward.

Jane and Hannah opened their arms as they approached and hugged.

"It's so good to see you, Jane. It seems your team is doing well."

"An honour to meet with you, m'am," Vegas said.

"Likewise, private. EDI, good to see you again."

"Same to you, Admiral," EDI replied.

"Did you all have fun with your training session?"

"You set this up," Kaidan said as he walked up to her. "The Argo?"

"Not me directly," Hannah said. "The ADF wanted to test your team out in the most extreme situation we can possibly create."

"Why?" Jane asked.

"There was a situation at Shanxi."

"The reapers?" Shepard jumped to conclusions.

"Thankfully no. We made contact with a new alien race. The turians. They attacked some of our scouts and then attempted to invade Shanxi. The ADF was able to easily repel them, but we are expecting a second and larger wave. We want your team there, Jane. We want to show these turians and every alien in the galaxy that humanity is not a race they want to mess with. Will your team help us in that matter?"

"You need to asked? My team definitely wants in."

Hannah walked over to Jin. Jin immediately recognized her and lowered his head. "Hello, Jin." She scratched his chin. Jin purred at the affection. "He's looking well. To think he used to be small enough to fit in your arms when you hatched him as a little girl."

"So, when should my team leave?"

"Right now would be good, but a word to the wise, hon. Don't let Jin eat any turians."

"Don't want a diplomatic situation?"

"No. They apparently have dextro-rotational DNA or something like that. I don't want Jin to have a nasty stomach ache."


	3. Tic For Tac

**Author's Note: Was playing South Park Stick of Truth all last week. Sorry. Did manage to Platinum it though.**

Chapter 2:

A Council meeting was called into order. Councilor Triton was at the focus of this meeting. The room they were in was small with a circular table in the center. Tevos, the asari councilor, and Raito, the salarian councilor, sat at one end of the table, whereas Triton sat on the other side form them.

"Councilor Triton you understand that Raito and I called this meeting with some concerns."

"What concerns are those?" he feigned ignorance.

"Don't mock us, Councilor," Raito chided him. "The STG have found that the Hierarchy has mobilized an armada large enough to start an interstellar war. We demanded to know what they are doing."

"Very well." Triton pulled up his omni-tool. "About six days ago, a turian patrol found relay-314 was activated. They found the perpetrators, three scouts ships, and as per law the patrol acted to punish them."

"Wait, who activated the relay?" Tevos interrupted him.

"They call themselves ADF," he answered. There was a pause before he followed up. "This was a first contact situation."

"And the patrol attacked them?" Raito said in disbelief.

"They broke the law."

"One they couldn't have known about."

"The law is the law."

"The patrol admiral could have tried to communicate with the scouts and warn them of the dangers of activating a mass relay instead of attacking them," Tevos argued. She rubbed her temple. "How many of these newcomers were killed for a law they didn't know about?"

Triton shifted in his seat. "As far as we know... None."

Tevos and Raito looked up at him.

"What?" Raito muttered. "How's that possible?"

"As I was saying, the patrol attacked the perpetrators and seeing that they couldn't detect any eezo on any of the ships, they believed that they wouldn't have kinetic barriers."

"However..." Raito said.

"The patrol fleet's attacks were stopped by a shield. The scouts suffered no damage."

"They had shields without eezo?" Tevos asked for clarification.

"Powerful shields with eezo," Raito added. "If an entire barrage from a turian patrol fleet didn't cause any physical harm then it would have to be powerful."

"They did," Triton answered. "The scouts retreated through the mass relay and the patrol fleet followed them. They were able to locate this race's homeworld. The admiral of the fleet was still confident in their ability against this race. Upon finding their world, they transmitted a message, along with a translation package, demanding that they surrender to the Hierarchy. It took these aliens minutes to translate the message and respond to our demands."

"And what did they say?"

Triton pressed a button on his omni-tool. The ADF's response was played. "Turian patrol, this is General Wiliams of the Alliance Defense Force. We will not surrender to your forces. The ADF never surrenders! If you wish to start a war, the ADF will not hold back."

"After receiving that message the Admiral initiated an invasion that would quickly take their capital and force their leadership to surrender. Only the Admiral survived the attempt and ordered a full retreat from the system. The ADF then launched a cruiser ship and fired and energy weapon against our retreating forces. Only one survivor and he is suffering from advance PTSD."

"An energy weapon?" Raito exclaimed. "You sure?"

"It's our best explantion after seeing the footage. Seeing the threat this race is, we have put together a fleet to suppress them once and for all. And their technology will be analyzed and used to improve this galaxy."

"Considering the technology, it would be best to resolve this situation diplomatically as oppose to escalating it," Tevos suggested. "The galaxy would benefit greatly from this race if we have them join the galactic community as oppose to having them become a broken resentful race."

"I'm afraid that ship has come and gone," Triton said. "Literally. The fleet is already arriving at relay-314."

VVVVVV

The Hierarchy fleet arrived at relay-314. In their fleet was 10 dreadnoughts, 65 cruisers and 153 frigates. General Desolas was confident that he would be able to end this war within days.

"General, the entire fleet has arrived," his XO reported. "The probe we sent through the relay shows no traps around the relay."

"Good, before we head through the relay, I wish to address the fleet," Desolas said.

"I'm opening channels," the comm specialist said. "Go right ahead, General."

"Hierarchy fleet, this is General Desolas Arterius. Today is a historic day. We made first contact an alien race that calls itself the ADF. They broke galactic law by activating a mass relay. When they were told to surrender to law enforcers and face punishment for their crimes, they responded with violence and they killed many good turian soldiers. Good soldiers who were only doing their job. Now we are here with the largest fleet assembled since the Krogan Rebellions to beat them into submission. We are not to just bring these aliens to justice. We are to remind the galaxy why the Hierarchy is the military arm of the Council. Now let's show the ADF the might of our army."

"Preparing for relay transit," the XO announced.

"Good speech, brother," Saren said.

"I'll have a better one once we win."

"Initiating transit," the pilot announced.

A bolt of electricity shot out from the mass relay and struck the flag ship sending it forward many light years. The turian fleet followed close behind. Dozens of ships appeared around the Shanxi relay. Each ship immediately went into their formations and awaited orders from their general.

"Hierarchy fleet, move forward to the ADF homeworld," Desolas ordered. "It's time we announce our presence."

The hundreds of ships took minutes before Shanxi was within their sensor range.

"General, sir, I'm detecting multiple contacts over the ADF homeworld," the tactical officer said. "There's dozens of ships. At least five of them are dreadnought class. A couple dozen cruisers and about a hundred frigates."

"Do you detect any eezo in any of the ships?"

"No, sir. Not a trace."

"There's something else over their world as well."

"What?"

"They have a large space station over their world. At least five kilometers in length."

"Where did all of this come from?" Desolas muttered. "None of this was seen from the footage we recovered from Getas' ship records."

"They must have mobilized everything they had out of desperation," Saren suggested. "We still have them outnumbered two to one. The battle will be tougher but we have the advantage."

Desolas nodded at his brother's reasoning. "Comm officer open a channel so I can communicate with the ADF."

"Yes, sir," the officer replied. "Wait... I'm getting a transmission from the ADF fleet."

"Let's hear what they have to say."

"Channel's open."

"Hierarchy fleet, this is General Williams. You are trespassing in ADF space. Your fleet is to vacate our system immediately."

"This is General Desolas. We are here in retaliation for the casualties you inflicted upon a turian patrol fleet that was only doing its job. Your people are to submit to justice. Don't try to fight. We have hundreds of years of experience with space travel and combat. We are superior to you in every way and your fleet is outnumbered two to one. Surrender now and avoid the blood shed."

"As we told the Admiral who came here before, the ADF never surrenders. Now you should know that we are not a race that actively seeks out war. We know of your Citadel and your governments and if you wish to set up a meeting to create diplomatic channels, we would prefer this. However, if you continue your aggressions, we will defend ourselves. And I must warn you, if you continue this path, you'll find out how little your hundreds of years experience is worth compared to our training and technology."

"They closed the channel, sir," the Comm officer said.

Desolas slammed his fist into the galaxy map's console. "Arrogant, ignorant cretin!"

Saren placed a hand on his shoulder. "You gave them a chance, brother. He's made his choice. And his people will suffer for it."

"Hierarchy fleet, engage the enemy."

The Hierarchy fleet immediately fired upon the ADF fleet. The ADF fleet's shields flared as it stopped the turian attacks. The fleet's weapons lit up and fired a return volley of lasers and plasma blasts. The Hierarchy's fleet watched the attacks hit a third of their front line exploded from the attack.

"ADF's return volley has destroyed one cruiser and five frigates, sir," the XO announced.

"And what about our attack?"

"Nothing. Our attacks were stopped by their shields."

"The enemy doesn't seem to be continuing their attack," the tactical officer notified Desolas. "They just fired their barrage and stopped. The ADF fleet is just sitting there."

"What is their game?" Desolas asked out loud.

"Sir, I-I think they're waiting for us to make our move."

"What kind of strategy is that?" Saren muttered.

"We need to end this battle quickly if we wish to avoid massive casualties," Desolas concluded. "Tactical officer, do you know which city is their capital?"

"Yes, sir," he replied.

"Good. I'll address the fleet." The Comm officer pressed a button and nodded. "Hierarchy fleet, you are to engage again and keep the ADF distracted while I take a ground invasion force to their capital. We'll take their capital and force them to surrender."

VVVVVV

5 Hours Earlier...

Shepard's team stood on top of a hill that overlooked Shanxi's captial, New Taiyuan.

"According to our orders, we're to sit here and attack any turian forces that come by," Shepard told her team. "We are also under orders to operate on a tic for tac basis. They fire, you fire back. They stop. You stop. We don't want to create more casualties than we need to. Now, the stealth probes the ADF set up on the other side of the relay have reported that the Hierarchy fleet is assembling. We can expect an attack at any time. Now our strategists predict with a 92 percent certainty that the turians will attempt to take this city. We've already evacuated it and the ADF is going to allow them to take the city."

"Why the hell are we going to do that?" Vega demanded.

Shepard grinned. "Because the brass has a surprise for the Hierarchy once a majority of their forces are in the city. We don't want this battle to last too long. We just want to scare the turians away so we have a chance to make diplomatic contact with the Council. No need to kill more people than necessary."

"Shepard, we have something heading towards us," EDI announced as she watched the radar. "And it's big."

The squad looked at EDI's holographic screen and saw a large object heading towards them. They looked in the direction of the approaching object. It didn't take long before they saw what it was.

"Holy hell, is that a dragon?" Vega exclaimed.

"I've never seen a dragon that big before," Kaidan said.

"I have," Shepard said. "I didn't think he would come to visit considering how close we are to the turians attacking."

The dragon was three times larger than Jin. The dragon was a part of the rare Behemoth breed. It was dark purple in colour and its head had a crest that pointed upwards from its snout and another crest that pointed downwards from its chin. The dragon flew close to Shepard's team. The wind generated from the wings was almost strong enough to blow Shepard's team off of their feet.

The Behemoth landed on the ground, causing it to briefly shake. The rider on the dragon's back jumped off of his saddle and landed on the ground before Shepard's team.

"Captain Anderson, it's an honour to have you here," Shepard greeted.

"Captain?" he muttered. "Just because you got your promotion and your team doesn't mean you have to go all formal on me."

Shepard chuckled and shook his hand. "It good to see you again Anderson."

"Captain Anderson?" Vega repeated. "As in Captain David Anderson Air Raider of Tsunami Team 1 and first Dragon Rider, Captain David Anderson?"

"I see my reputation proceeds me."

Vega shook his hand. "It is an honour to meet you, sir. How do you know Shepard?"

"Anderson was the one who taught me to be a Dragon Rider," Shepard answered. "I'm guessing with you here the ADF are going all out in the defense of Shanxi?"

"More than we need. I'm leading a dragon horde and some armour units north about a dozen klicks from here. I'm just stopping by here quickly to say hi."

"So what else is the ADF providing planetside in addition to your horde and the multiple teams in my area?"

"We have controlled sterile ants and wasps to the west. The area south of the city is a wide open valley. We've made it as appealing as possible for turian invaders. When they land there, the ADF soldiers we have in New Taiyuan will lure them into the city. Any turians that follow them out of the city will have to face my group."

"Multiple ambushes," EDI said. She smiled. "Very effective."

"Ambushes aren't the only thing we have planned for them."

VVVVVV

Present...

Hundreds of turian dropships flew in through Shanxi's atmosphere. They could see the ADF city below. The buildings varied greatly in size and design.

"They have interesting architecture if you are to say anything good of these aliens," Saren commented.

"A mix of turian and asari," Desolas added.

"General, sir," one of the soldiers said to get Desolas' attention. "I have a question."

"Yes, Private?"

"Do we know what these ADF aliens look like? I've heard rumours. Like they're machines like the geth. Some even saying they're rachni or prothean."

Desolas sputtered. "Rachni or prothean? I can assure you the ADF are neither. The truth is that we do not know what these aliens look like. When we are groundside, you are to assume that anything that isn't turian is hostile. Simple enough order?"

"Yes, sir!"

"General, we found a good landing zone that would give us access to their city," the pilot announced. "There's air defense turrets in the west, east and north, but the valley south of the city has none. There's a barricade at the southern side of the city, but it seems like we can land our forces without taking casualties."

"It seems that the ADF didn't have the time to completely protect their city," Desolas said. "Luck is in our favour. Land our ships in that valley."

"Yes, sir."

The dropships flew towards the valley and landed with no resistance. The Hierarchy soldiers poured out of the shuttles and went into formation to await for orders. Desolas stood by his two top commanders, his brother and Commander Varro.

"Commander Varro, I want you to take your forces and secure the valley west of the city. If we are to occupy this planet, we'll need to get more soldiers groundside. The valley to the west looks to be an excellent place for a secondary landing zone. Destroy the air turrets there and secure that valley."

Varro saluted and replied, "Yes, sir." She turned to her soldiers and said, "You heard the general. Move out!"

Desolas turned to his brother. "Saren we're taking the city." He then addressed his soldiers, "We are taking the city. Find their government building and take it. We end this war today."

VVVVVV

Shepard laid on the grassy hill and watched the turians through her binoculars. "Looks like the brass was right. The turians walked right into it. They entered the city."

"Well, the ADF did make all other possible landing zones as unappealing as possible," Kaidan said.

"They're engaging ADF forces. They are greedy. They are taking every bit of ground the ADF gives them. Aggressively."

"It seems they're splitting their army in two. One for the city and... Oh..."

"Oh?" Vega repeated

"The other is heading to the west."

"Oh..." Vega cringed. "I feel sorry for them."

"The first group is approaching the city's defence line." Shepard got off of the ground and handed the binoculars to Kaidan. "We good to go here, EDI?"

"We are. Our weapons are all fully charged and turrets are on stand-by. Though if the ADF plan goes right, we may not need them."

From where they were standing, they could see the battle that raged over Shanxi. The ADF fleet's was holding its own against the Hierarchy's barrage. There were explosions all over the sky.

"Things are proceeding as planned," Kaidan said. "ADF forces are slowly backing away from the approaching army and drawing them further into the city."

Shepard walked over to Jin with the last piece of armour for him. The dragon lowered its head and Shepard placed the armour plate over his head. The armour plates didn't use straps to secure it into place. The underside of the plate used a special substance that grips to any surface. It can be deactivated to unstick the plate. With this, more of a dragon can be armoured while still giving the dragon great manoeuvrability and speed. However, this is the only protection the dragons are given. Shielding causes irritation to dragons' hearing and reduces their focus.

Jin groaned as the head armour was put into place. Shepard scratched his chin. "Oh, I know it itches, Jin, but you only need to wear it when we fight." Jin grunted upon hearing her words. Dragons while not sentient creatures, they are intellectually equivalent to earth's primates. Jin was able to understand her.

"Don't worry, you'll get a treat after this," Shepard said in a baby tone. "Just wait till after the fight. Just don't eat any of the turians. They'll make you sick."

"You really spoiler him, Shepard," Kaidan said as he handed the binoculars to Vega.

Shepard straighten herself out. "I don't spoil him."

"Your baby talk says otherwise." Vega laughed along with Kaidan.

"We Dragon Riders are just attached to our partners," Shepard said while crossing her arms.

"Don't listen to them, SL," EDI said. "I think your affection is admirable."

"Thank you, EDI."

"And it's definitely different from your reputation as being... calculating."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"She's saying it's nice you're not an emotionless stiff," Vega answered directly.

"Thank you, Private," Shepard said through her teeth, "for your straightforwardness."

"No problem, SL. When are they going to set it off?"

"The ADF wants as many turians in the city as possible," EDI said. "There's still more turians entering the city. Maximum damage."

VVVVVV

2 Hours later...

"Look at them run," Saren jeered. "These ADF never fought a war with another race and now they are reaping what they sow."

"I don't like this," Desolas said.

"What are you talking about, brother? We've reached the center of their city. It's as good as ours."

"This fast?" Desolas pointed out. "Even a primitive race should have made us work harder to gain control over their world's capital."

"Like I said, it's likely they are all talk. 'ADF never surrenders.' What foolishness. Here they are surrendering their homeworld's capital."

"A question, Saren. What do these ADF aliens look like?"

Saren stared at him with a blank look.

"Exactly. They have two legs and arms and stand upright, but that's all we know. They have suffered zero casualties in this conflict. Look at the buildings around us. No one. Even their government building is empty. My instincts are screaming at me. The ADF is up to something. I want you to take a contingent and follow after the retreating ADF troops. I'm taking another to the east. They have a lot of soldiers set up there. If their politicians are anywhere, it would be there. The rest will stay here and occupy the city."

"As always, your wisdom knows no bounds. The ADF doesn't stand a chance."

The two brothers went their separate ways with their own personal armies. Desolas couldn't help but admire the city's architecture and infrastructure. It was extremely efficient. Thanks to it, his army was able to reach the city center in no time. Exiting the city proved just as easy. Without any ADF soldiers in their path, it took only a fraction of the time. However in that time, Desolas was able to get an update on the army attacking the western front.

Desolas' omni-tool lit up. A screen appeared before him. The screen showed an extremely distressed Commander Varro.

"We need reinforcements on our front!" she demanded.

"What have you run into?"

"The western valley was a trap! Our unit is being slaughtered!"

"Slaughtered by what?"

"Giant insects. They crawled out of the ground. They spit acid and there's hundreds of them. There's even flying giant insects that shoot spikes. We're being overwhelmed. Our shields and armour are completely useless against them!"

"Fall back to the city, Commander."

"We can't, we are-" Varro screamed as she was lifted in the air. The view on the holo-screen gave Desolas and his army a brief view of the western front being swarmed by hundreds of giant insects. Some soldiers were being melted by acid. Others were being impaled on stinger spikes. The footage finally cut out when Varro's body fell to the ground.

"Spirits..." one of Desolas' soldiers muttered. "It's the rachni."

"It's not the rachni!" Desolas growled.

"But sir, the commander said they were giant acid spitting insects that came out of the ground."

"Think about this logically. This system was closed off from the rest of the galaxy with an inactive relay up until now. How could the rachni be here?"

The soldiers couldn't answer.

"Exactly. It's a trick. We are going to find the military forces out in the east and crush them and cement our authority over this planet. Look ahead. Beyond that hill is the ADF army. We will defeat them and our victory in this war will be ensured. Do not allow fear to corrode your will!"

As Desolas's army approach the wide hill, they could hear something coming from the other side. It was a humming noise. It was loud and in rhythm.

"Sir," one of the soldiers said. "Is that... singing?"

As they moved up the hill, the singing became more clear. All of the ADF were singing.

The ADF go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching one by one

We train for wars just for fun

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching two by two

We are more powerful than you

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching three by three

We will ensure this galaxy remains free

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching four by four

We will fulfill the oath we swore

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching five by five

Your reputation will take a dive

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching six by six

We fight large battles for kicks

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching seven by seven

We'll turn the intensity up to eleven

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching eight by eight

Never surrendering is our trait

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching nine by nine

You want to be our enemy? Get in line

So we all go marching down, hurrah

The ADF go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah

The ADF go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah

We go marching ten by ten

This war will soon come to an end

So we all go marching down, hurrah

Hurrah! Hurrah!

Desolas' omni-tool activated and Saren appeared before him.

"Desolas, listen to me. You are walking-" The video feed was immediately cut.

"Saren? Saren?"

VVVVVV

Earlier...

Saren's forces followed behind the retreating ADF forces. The soldiers jumped into a trench disappearing from sight.

"You sure, you're not detecting anyone else?" Saren asked his second-in-command.

"Our radar only shows the soldiers ahead of us," Victus answered. "Nothing else detected."

"Good the last thing I want is for us to walk into a trap."

No sooner had those words left his mouth, the air to their sides and in the front shimmered. Holes appeared in the air all over and expanded to reveal soldiers, tanks, armored walkers and giant reptiles.

The turians had never seen anything like this before. Invisibility technology is still years away from being introduced to the military and even then it would be a personal invisibility cloak. The suddenness of the ADF's appearance put every turian soldier into shock. None of them were able to raise their weapons right away.

A man at the front walked up to the turian group. "I'm Captain David Anderson. Your group is to surrender or we will open fire. You are outnumbered and outgunned."

"Us, surrender?" Saren growled. "We have your capital of your homeworld under our control. Your race should surrender to us!"

"Homeworld?" Anderson repeated. "This isn't our homeworld. This is a colony."

The turians muttered amongst themselves at this revelation.

"Your forces have been walking into traps all over the place. Why do you think you took the city so quickly and easily?"

Saren quickly brought up his omni-tool. "Desolas, listen to me. You are walking-Ah!"

Anderson swung his force blade and launched a energy slash that severed Saren's right arm. Saren fell to his knees and screamed while clutching his right shoulder. Blood poured through his fingers. Anderson removed his hand and applied a gray gel to the wound he inflicted. Saren stopped screaming as the pain subsided. He passed out from the blood loss and pain.

Anderson looked to the other turian soldiers. His giant dragon mount landed next to him. It growled at the frightened turian soldiers. "Lay down your weapons," Anderson demanded.

The soldiers didn't hesitate as they dropped their weapons and raised their arms.

VVVVVV

Desolas' army reached the top of the hill and saw the ADF forces. The general signaled his army to move forward. The ADF moved into battle formation in response. The Dragon Riders and Wing Divers flew into the sky. One Dragon Rider stayed on the ground though. She walked to the front of the battle line.

"We have your capital, ADF," Desolas announced to the opposing army. "This war is already over. Give up and save your lives."

Shepard smiled. "You think you took our city by your own will? Right now the vast majority of your army is in an unoccupied city. Now why would we evacuate a city of our own free will and allow an enemy to take it?"

Desolas eyes widen. 'No...' he thought. 'They wouldn't.'

VVVVVV

Captain Bassus held on tightly to his chair. The bridge shook so much that it was the only way not to go flying. Bassus was left in charge of directing the turian fleet while Desolas was groundside to take the ADF capital. Since the general's departure, the situation worsened. The only reason they hadn't been completely wiped out is because the ADF was operating under a return-fire only operation style. Why they would employ an asinine strategy such as this is beyond Bassus. All he knew was that it's the only reason why they haven't been completely destroyed.

The ADF ships proved to be superior to their ships in every way. Without the limitations of eezo, these ships were capable of manoeuvres that would shear their own ships. The ADF even had a new class of ships they had never encountered before. The Comms officer called them carriers. They were ships as large as dreadnoughts but acted as a large mobile hangar for hundreds of fighters and interceptors.

The turian fleet wasn't going to hold out much longer at the rate they were losing ships. Bassus just hoped that Desolas hurried up and capture the ADF leadership.

"Captain we have activity over the ADF homeworld," his tactical officer said. "It's the space station over the planet."

"Bring it up on the screen."

A holoscreen showed the space station in question. It lit up and started moving.

"By the spirits... It's not a space station. It's a massive ship! How can it be that massive?!"

"I'm detecting a massive build up of energy from the ADF ship. It's preparing to fire!"

"At what?"

"The planet..."

VVVVVV

A loud roar echoed throughout the area. The colour of the sky went from its bright blue to a dark purple. A pillar of white light fell from the sky and impacted the city. The beam was so powerful that the clouds in the sky were push away out of its path. The ground shook from the attack. Soldiers on both sides raised their arms to block out the brightness of the light.

Once the light died down, the soldiers could finally see what happened. The large hole in the clouds in the sky still remained. The sky's colour returned back to its bright blue colour.

What the turians saw made even the most disciplined of them feel sick to their stomach. The city was gone. All that was left was a flat glass surface where the city once stood.

"There goes your army," Shepard said matter-of-factly.

"What have you done?" Desolas muttered.

"The ADF wanted to end the war as soon as possible while showing your people just how powerful our people really are and how far we are willing to go to protect ourselves. You have a chance to end this war before more lives are lost. Surrender, and you have my word that no harm will come to your soldiers."

This soldier's words enraged Desolas. "Surrender? You slaughter my soldiers and you expect me to surrender?"

"Considering your options? Yeah. Your ground forces are outnumbered and your fleet is suffering massive casualties. As a smart man. As a man who should care about his soldiers, I would expect you to do what's best for your soldiers."

"I am General Desolas Arterius of the turian Hierarchy. Winner of dozens of battles. We will not surrender!" Desolas screamed as he grabbed a rocket launcher from one of his close-by soldiers.

Desolas quickly aimed and fired it at Shepard's dragon which was near the frontline. Shepard watched in terror as the rocket flew passed her and hit Jin. The dragon screamed as the rocket exploded.

"Jin!" Shepard cried out as she ran to her best friend. The rocket had shredded Jin's left wing. The dragon whimpered from the pain the explosion had caused it. Blood flew from its wing as it twitched.

The other ADF soldiers aimed their weapons at the turian soldiers ready to engage in a fire fight, but they noticed that the turians did not raise their weapons. Some of them even placed their weapons on the ground.

"What are you soldiers waiting for?!" Desolas yelled. "Fire on the ADF!"

"Sir, she's right," one of the soldiers said. "We are outnumbered and outgunned."

The ADF lowered their weapons hearing the Hierarchy's reluctance in attacking.

"Are you all going to disobey a direct order from your superior?" Desolas growled. "It's the death penalty for disobeying my orders!"

"Can't give orders when you're dead..."

Desolas looked back and saw the ADF soldier walking towards him. Her dragon's blood was splattered on her armour. Desolas raised his assault rifle and fired at the soldier. Her shields flared as it protected her from every shot.

Shepard reached over her shoulder and pulled out her force blade. Her killing intent was overwhelming. "You bastard," she growled. "You dare hurt my dragon! I'll cut you into pieces." Desolas kept firing at her until his assault rifle's alarm went off warning of overheating. Shepard slashed forward sending a line of red energy that went through Desolas vertically. She followed by slashing right to left and back the other direction.

Desolas stood there in shock. Shepard spun her sword in hand and then slid it back into its scabbard on her back. Once it was fully sheathed, it made a click sound. The damage Shepard did to Desolas was made apart. Lines appeared on his body and he came apart. His soldiers watched as Desolas' body fell into six separate parts. The insides of the cuts were cauterized due to the energy used to cut it.

"I'm serious about our offer," Shepard reiterated to the soldiers.

The turians threw their weapons to the ground seeing their odds.

"Good. Now who is responsible for communications?"

One of the turians stepped forward.

"Can you broadcast a message to your entire fleet?"

The soldier nodded.

VVVVVV

"Captain Bassus, I'm receiving a transmission from the planet. It's broadcasting on all our frequencies."

"Open the channel," the captain ordered.

An ADF soldier appeared on a holoscreen.

"Hierarchy fleet, I am Staff Lieutenant Jane Shepard of the ADF. Your general is dead." The video briefly turned away to show Desolas' corpse. "The ADF is under strict orders not to prolong this battle past what is necessary. All we ask is that your fleet leaves our system. Once you do so, please send diplomats so we can resolve this situation without further bloodshed. The soldiers here will not come to harm and will be immediately returned to you once we have peace between our people. However, if you continue to fight, we will continue to defend ourselves. The choice is yours. I only hope you show more wisdom than your general here."

The transmission ended.

"Captain what should we do?"

Bassus pondered for a moment before he saw the fear in the eyes of his crew. The answer was clear.

"All ships, this is Captain Bassus. Fall back through the relay. It's over."

Bassus then discovered that the ADF had been listening to their comms all along. After he made his announcement, the ADF stopped all attacks. The Hierarchy wasted no time as they rushed to the mass relay. At no point did the ADF try to attack them in their escape.

'So, they do have honour,' he thought. 'That's good. I only hope we can reconcile with them. If we don't, then this whole galaxy is in trouble.'


	4. Tension

Chapter 3:

Victus was led by two Rangers while wearing handcuffs. He was surprised at how advance the handcuffs were. The cuffs had two slots where his wrists were placed and a bar of light went over his wrists. The light was unlike omni-tool constructs.

'Hard light?' he thought. 'Can't be. Why would a race use technology this advance on something as simple as hand cuffs.'

The three came to a door with a code panel. One of the rangers inputted a 12-digit code. The door panel slide up revealing a small room with a two-sided mirror, a table and two chairs. The Rangers led him to the chair and sat him down.

"Please wait here," one of the Rangers said to him before the two left.

Victus didn't have to wait long before another soldier walked in. He was middle aged with a scar down his right cheek. The soldier wore a uniform unlike what any soldier Victus has seen before. It was formal with emblems on his chest and strips on his shoulder.

"I'm Admiral Hackett, the head of ADF's military," he said as he sat down across from Victus.

Victus never expected the leader of this race's military would talk to him. He was expecting an interrogator.

"Can you understand me?" he asked.

"I can," Victus replied.

"Good. My implant seems to be working. Please present me your cuffs."

Victus held out his hands. Hackett pressed a key into a slot on the side and the hard light vanished allowing the cuffs to fall to the table.

"You are currently the highest ranking turian soldier on Shanxi," Hackett stated matter-of-factly.

"If you think I'll hand over any secrets-"

"We have no interest in your people's technology or military secrets. As from what we've seen from your people's offensive, your technology is... antiquated compared to ours."

"Antiquated?! The turian Hierarchy has the most advance military technology in the galaxy." While the asari are the most advance race in the galaxy, they are less focused on applying that advantage to their military. They have some powerful ships, but their forces pale in comparison to the Hierarchy's military.

"It's just the facts when it comes to comparisons. You are the highest ranked conscious soldier and so you have the current authority to answer some basic questions for me. Your patrol attacked our scouts without provocation. The Hierarchy then followed up with a massive offensive when we fought them off. Why did your people attack mine?"

"Your scouts broke galactic law."

"Which one?"

"Your people activated a mass relay without consent from the Council or scouting the other side."

"Why do you have that law?"

"Long version or short?"

"Long."

"Very well. Hundreds of years ago, salarian explorers opened an uncharted mass relay that led to a system where the rachni lived. The rachni were an insect race that declared war upon the galaxy. The war went on for several hundred years. The salarians uplifted the krogan to help us combat the rachni. We were successful, the rachni were wiped out. The krogan, however, were a brutal race with powerful strength, regeneration, a long life-span, and they breed quickly. They expanded after the rachni war and soon they began taking over Council worlds. The krogan rebellions had began. The war last for over a decade and only ended when we deployed the genophage."

"The genophage?"

"A disease that made the krogan less fertile. Only 1 in 1000 births are viable. It was created by the salarians and deployed by my people."

"I see."

"This is why the Council does not allow the activation of mass relays without knowing what is on the other side."

"I can understand why you have the law. And why you attacked us. However... How are we to follow a law that we don't know exist?"

"You can't," Victus answered honestly. "I'll level with you, Admiral. I don't agree with what happened. It could have- should have been handled better. But we are turians. We follow orders. Even if they are bad."

"I'll level with you, Captain. You have any idea how close we were to unleashing total war against your people? At the last moment, when cooler heads prevailed, we changed our tactics to simply scare your military away and prepare for a diplomatic solution."

"So why hold back?"

"We learned that there are many other races out there. You work together as a galactic government. More or less. Starting a war with your people is not likely to garner much trust with the other races. And we'd rather not start a war with a multi-racial coalition while we are preparing for a war with something else."

"Something else?"

"I'm afraid I can't reveal that information to you, not until we have spoken with your Council. But know that we do not actively seek out war. We only wish to defend ourselves. We don't wish to make more enemies than we need to. What will be the general mood of the galaxy because of this brief war between our people?"

"Wars come and go," Victus said. "I'd imagine many turians will hold resentment for a while. Considering the weapons your people displayed during our battle, the other races may fear you."

"Would anyone act on that fear?"

"Not directly. The Council prefers to avoid war. Any acts against your people would most likely be political in nature."

"We can handle politics... More or less."

VVVVVV

An asari stood in front of a window that viewed the arms of the Citadel. She stared at her camera drone with a warm smile. "Welcome to Citadel News Network, I'm Sia Enrva. Rumours of a Hierarchy military build-up has just been confirmed by Council officials. According to them, a turian patrol encountered a new alien race at relay-314. The officials, however, did not answer questions about what this new alien race is like or how the meeting with the patrol went, or why the Hierarchy is building up a fleet."

Suddenly, Sia placed a hand to her ear. She nodded as she listened to the person talking to her. "You sure?" she asked. "Yeah. Yeah. Oh... Oh goddess... Alright."

Sia focused back on the camera. The warm smile she had before had completely vanished. "Breaking news. There has been a leak and we have confirm it's legitimacy. The alien race is currently being identified as the ADF or the Alliance Defense Force. The Hierarchy patrol attacked the new alien race when the race had activated relay-314, as per protocol. The alien scout ships had escaped from the patrol and the patrol followed the scouts to their homeworld but faced resistance from the aliens. The patrol was forced from the system when the ADF fought back. The fleet the Hierarchy formed was a retaliation and subjugation force in response to this attack. However, despite this being the largest fleet the turians had put together since the krogan rebellion, they were ultimately defeated, suffered massive casualties and were forced from the system."

"Ha!" a krogan laughed as he watched the news video on the Wards wall. There was over a dozen people standing in front of the screen. "Someone put the turians in their place? I'd like to meet this race."

"This one would appreciate silence while listening to this newscast," a nearby hanar said.

"We do not have any word about how the Council is taking the news of the Hierarchy's defeat-" Sia placed her hand to her ear again. She looked back at the camera. "Breaking news. We have just received images from the battle over the ADF homeworld!"

The images appeared on the screen. They showed many of the turian ships being destroyed or were heavily damaged. The human ships on the other hand looked relatively unharmed. The design was fairly asari like in its smooth contours.

"These images are shocking," Sia stated. "The ADF seems to possess extraordinarily powerful ships. And most shocking of all-"

An image of a massive ship appeared on the screen.

"They possess a ship that is five times longer than the Destiny Ascension. How this unknown race managed to master Eezo to create such a marvel of technology, we do not know. We can only hope they are open to diplomacy as we can learn a lot from each other."

The hanar viewed the images with great interest. Many of the ships bared a great resemblance to the mass relays.

"Could it be!" he exclaimed. "The return of the Enkindlers?!"

VVVVVV

Admiral Hackett walked into the ADF lab based in Shanxi. He received an urgent message about a discovery that would greatly aid the ADF. Several scientists immediately walked up to Admiral Hackett and saluted.

"What do you have for me, Doctor Chawla?" Hackett asked the middle scientist.

"The battle on Shanxi helped us unearth an alien artifact."

"Prothean?"

"No." The doctor shook his head. "Sir... I believe we have found an actual reaper artifact."

Hackett's eyes widen. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"Follow me." Chawla looked to his other two assistants. "You two can go back to work."

The other two scientist went back to their work station. Hackett followed behind Chawla down a white sterile tunnel that led to another section of the lab.

"After we fired upon the city, the resulting attacked caused a cave to become uncovered. We had someone scout it and it was inside there we found the artifact. We took every precaution to make sure no one can be indoctrinated by the device."

The hallway ended in an observation room with a thick glass window that peered into another room. Inside the room was the artifact. The structure of the artifact was shaped in a double-helix shape that came together at the top. In the middle of the double-helix structure was a glowing blue core.

"The room containing the artifact is shielded to prevent any possibility of indoctrination and any interaction with the artifact is done with machines." A faint blue wall of light was visible through the glass window. "We are certain beyond a reasonable doubt that this artifact is of reaper origin."

Hackett took a moment while looking at the artifact. After the decades they spent preparing for this threat, they finally found the first physical evidence of the threat. It was reaffirming and terrifying at the same time. "Do you know what it is exactly?"

"We do not know the exact purpose of this artifact. But we believe it's meant as an indoctrination beacon. We have exposed ants to it and the device shoots outa form of electricity that morphed the ant into a cybernetic organism. The form matched the descriptions of heavily indoctrinated individuals in the ravager archives. We've taken to call these types of individuals Husks. The reapers may plant these on planets that have a high chance of supporting life."

"Making a reaper conquest that much easier," Hackett concluded. "Can we create something that'll detect other artifacts like this?"

"That's the least of what we have planned. We may be able to learn from this device and create a way to make us immune to indoctrination."

"This is possible?"

"According to the ravager archives, reaper indoctrination mostly depends on electromagnetic waves, infrasound and ultrasound to modify the brain. Having this artifact allows us to know exactly what frequency the reapers use and in turn allows us to come up with a counter to it. Sir, the significance of this discovery cannot be overstated. This discovery may help us remove the reaper's greatest weapon against us."

VVVVVV

Captain Bassus stood in front of the Councilors. He saw the look of rage on Triton's face. The other two Councilors, however, looked very worried.

"Captain you are the highest ranked officer to leave the ADF home system," Triton stated. He barely held back his anger in his voice. "We had the strongest fleet since the krogan rebellion go into that system. We lost 6 dreadnoughts, 27 cruisers and 63 frigates. Thousands of lives were lost and hundreds were taken captive. We lost one of our greatest generals to an ADF lieutenant. What happened? How could this have happened?!"

"They were far too powerful," Bassus answered.

"Too powerful?" Triton scoffed. "They are an entirely new species on the galactic stage. We are the Hierarchy!"

"Triton, enough!" Tevos chided. "Let the Captain speak."

"The ADF are more powerful than anything we've ever faced. The only reason we didn't suffer more damage was because the ADF used minimum force."

"Explain," Raito said. "What do you mean by minimum force?"

"The ADF only attacked us after we attacked. In turns. We attack, they attack. They never attacked us of their own initiative."

"Why would they do that?"

"The ADF did not want to fight us. When we arrived, they explicitly said they didn't want to fight and were open to diplomacy. They further said that if we attack, they would fight back."

"And Desolas still ordered the attack?" Tevos asked.

"He took it as an insult. We could have saved many turian lives if we had gone with diplomacy."

"You shouldn't question your general's orders, Captain!" Triton scolded. "Especially of Desolas' calibre."

"He is free to his opinion at the moment, Councilor," Tevos reminded him. "We should have been notified when this race was contacted. The captain is right. We could have saved many lives. We should move towards diplomacy."

"We're just going to let the ADF get away with killing thousands of good turian soldiers?" Trition said in anger.

"Soldiers who did need to die if the Hierarchy was open to diplomacy," Raito reasoned. "And have you watched the news lately? All that's playing is the news of the defeat of the turian Hierarchy against a new alien race. The galactic community is in a panic. Many are fearing another rachni war. Sending an envoy is the wisest move at this time. I would like to put this to a vote."

"I second that motion," Tevos said.

"All for?"

Both Raito and Tevos raised their hands.

"All against?"

Triton raised his hand in opposition.

"Then it is decided," Tevos declared. "The asari Republic will send some diplomats to the ADF system."

VVVVVV

"Welcome back to the Citadel News, I'm Sia Enrva. The Council has just finished their meeting with the turian officer, Captain Rotawn Bassus, who ordered the retreat of Hierarchy forces from the ADF system. We have learned that the ADF had contacted the Hierarchy fleet when they arrived and offered to work things out diplomatically. General Desolas Arterius, the commander of the fleet, refused the offer and immediately attacked. Captain Bassus also noted that the ADF immediately stopped attacking the Hierarchy once they ordered the retreat and reiterated their diplomatic intentions. With this new information, the Council has decided that the Asari Republic will be sending diplomats to the system."

Several asari and a salarian were drinking at a table that overlooked the Presidium while listening to the news.

One of the asari breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news cast.

"Thank the goddess," she muttered. "I was worried we were going to be dragged into another damn war. I just got leave."

VVVVVV

The asari had a diplomatic team put together when they first heard of the turians discovering the new alien race. Originally they were supposed to be sent in after the turians defeated them. However, with recent events, their mission became more urgent. They were given the fastest ship in the asari military to ensure they could contact the ADF as soon as possible. The ship's name was Azedes.

"We have reach the relay, Mistress Hybria," the captain notified the ambassador.

"Make the jump," Matriarch Hybria ordered. "It's time to clean up the turian's mess."

"Making relay jump in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

The Azedes was struck by the blue electric eezo bolt from the mass relay and was shot forward.

"And... jump was successful."

Alarms went off when they exited their jump. There were hundreds of ADF ships all around them.

"We're surrounded, Mistress. Goddess, there are hundreds of them. We're receiving a transmission."

"Open the channel," Hybria ordered.

"Channel's open."

"This is General Williams of the ADF. I assume you are the asari diplomatic team."

"We are, General," Hybria answered. "I would like to apologize on behalf of the Hierarchy for their rash actions."

"Rash? That's putting it mildly."

"I understand your people are upset, but we were hoping to move past this. Your people have proven yourselves to be fairly advance despite not having any help from any Council race. I wouldn't put it past the Council of them inviting you to join our government."

"A Council seat or associate status?"

"How do you-"

"We managed to glean a lot of information from the turian ships."

"You would likely be given associate status. To be given a seat on the Council your race would have to prove to the galaxy you are willing and able to uphold the responsibility of protecting this galaxy."

"The Systems Alliance, our people's government, would like to meet with the Council."

"That would be standard procedure in First Contact situations."

"We can meet with the Council in four days. As a sign of good will, we will bring the turians we have taken captive during the battle."

"That gesture will go a long way towards gaining the trust of the galaxy, General. Thank you."

"We already treated the injured so they'll be back on their feet in no time."

The ambassador swallowed. "This may be odd to ask, but what is your race's DNA chirality."

"We're levo-rotational. But don't worry. We know the turians are dextro. Our medical technology is not dependent on chirality. They're fine."

"That's a relief to hear, General. We can take this information back to the Council."

"We would, however, like data on the Council government's laws and conventions. And the location of the Citadel. We would like to know everything about your laws so we can make an informed decision whether joining the Council is in our best interest."

"I assumed you would ask for this information. I prepared the data. I'm sending it over now."

"We have it. Thank you. We will be sending three frigate class ships to the Citadel in three days. The Prime Minister of the Alliance, Via Racoch, will be with Ambassador Donnel Udina. They will be accompanied by Admiral David Hackett, the head of the ADF military, Admiral Hannah Shepard, Captain David Anderson and four soldiers. Is this acceptable?"

"Your request is acceptable. I'll notify the Council of your intentions."

VVVVVV

Shepard sat on a leather chair next to her sleeping dragon. Shepard had been by Jin's side since he was brought into emergency care. Jin slept soundly. He had a type of plastic wrap that covered the wounds he had suffered from the turian's attack. The wrap held in the medi-gel that worked in speeding up the healing process. The wounds had almost immediately scabbed over after the attack. While dragons have a high regeneration rate, it is not instantaneous.

Shepard heard someone walk into the room. She looked and saw it was Joker with his arm around EDI's hip.

"Hey, Shepard," he said. "How's he doing?"

"He's going to be fine," she answered. "He'll be good to fight in a couple of days."

"That's a relief," EDI said.

Jim grumbled as he weakly opened his eyes. Shepard stroked his head. Jin closed his eyes and grinned slightly.

"Didn't get to see you in action during the battle, Joker," Shepard said. "How did it go?"

"Simulations can only do so much," Joker said. "It was pretty awesome. The turians didn't have any fighters or interceptors so it was pretty much a turkey shoot. It might be the highlight of my career when I took out the thrusters of one of their dreadnoughts. Though I heard you kicked ass planetside. The turian general, right?"

"Bastard hurt my dragon. Nobody hurts my dragon and gets away with it. Say, EDI, I was wondering if you mind creating something for me?"

"Not at all."

"You know that we can't have shields on our dragons because they produce a sound that only they can hear and it messes with their focus. Is it possible to create a shield that anticipates an attack and only activates briefly."

EDI stared off into space as she processed the request.

"I hate it when she does that," Joker muttered.

"I can still hear you, Jeff, while I'm doing this" EDI said. She returned her focus to Shepard. "It's possible. It's theoretical, though."

"Well, see what you can do."

EDI scratched Jin's head. "I'm glad to see he's okay. Jeff and I'll head out. We'll check back later."

"Thanks for coming you two. Means a lot to me."

EDI and Jeff left the room. Shortly after they left, David Anderson showed up. Shepard stood up and saluted.

"At ease," he said. "After what you did, I should be saluting you. Killing their General was the blow needed to end the conflict. You saved a lot of lives."

"Thank you, sir. What's the fallout from the conflict?"

"Oddly enough, very good. The Council sent a diplomatic party to smooth things over. We're going to be meeting with the Council in a few days."

"That's going to be fun," Shepard said jokingly.

"I'm glad you think so because your team is coming."

"What?"

VVVVVV

Matriarch Hybria approached the Councilors in their chamber.

"The meeting was successful," she announced.

The Councilors' postures loosened upon hearing the news.

"That is excellent news," Tevos said.

"The ADF government, the Systems Alliance, is coming to the Citadel in three days. They will also be bringing the soldiers they captured during the conflict."

"And what do they want in return?" Triton asked.

"Nothing," Hybria answered plainly. "They are returning the soldiers as a sign of good will."

"They killed thousands and they return a few hundred as a sign of good will?" Triton scoffed.

"Thousands that were fighting to take over their homeworld," Raito reminded him. "Though I agree that this is likely a ploy to gain political capital."

"Regardless, we should be thankful for the action," Tevos said.

"As per procedure, I gave them data on our laws and conventions," Hybria continued. "They said they would have a decision about if they wish to become an associate race by the time they arrive at the Citadel."

"Of course they will," Triton said. "No race has ever refused becoming an associate race."


	5. Diplomacy

Chapter 4:

Captain Yulon looked over slaving offers while sipping his beer. Business had been good lately for the batarian; enough so that he had recently bought a cruiser to improve his business. At this point in time the hardest part of his job was deciding who to enslave next. That was what he was doing now.

"Captain Yulon!" Quzal called out as he ran into Yulon's cabin. "We just received a new offer."

Quzal was a member of the salarian offshoot race known as the lystheni. He was a couple feet taller than the average male salarian and a very bulky in body mass. And like other lystheni his skin was very dark in colour and his pupils were slitted. Lystheni were unwelcomed in Citadel and salarian space due to their barbaric nature. In many ways, they were considered even more dangerous than krogan.

"I told you to always knock before entering my cabin," Yulon yelled. "You know what happened to the last guy."

"I know, sir, I know. But we have just received an offer of a lifetime. It couldn't wait."

"Must be quite the offer for you to risk dying," Yulon mused as he grabbed the OSD Quzal handed him. Yulon quickly calmed down.

"The client is the Collectors."

That information got Yulon's attention. It was the dream of every slaver to get an offer from the Collectors. Officially, the Collectors were nothing more than myth to the galaxy. In the Terminus, the Collectors were well known. They always offered either a fortune or advanced technology for some unusual request: Left-handed salarians, identical twin turians.

Making a deal with the Collectors wasn't just lucrative for a slaver, it was proof of the slaver's reputation.

"What do they want?"

"You've heard about the ADF?"

"I have. The turians got their asses handed to them by a new race. Wait you don't mean... They want some of them."

"It more complicated than that. And more unusual. The Collectors have two very specific targets."

Quzal activated his omni-tool and two images appeared. Both images were of two women. One woman wore a metallic silver armour while the other had a holographic blue visor that went around her eyes.

"So this is what the new aliens look like. They look like asari."

"The target wearing the silver armour goes by the name of Staff Lieutenant Jane Shepard. The other target is Service Chief EDI. Not sure why she only has one name. Anyways, the Collectors are offering two billion credits."

Yulon smiled at the offer.

"Each."

The datapad Yulon was browsing slipped from his hand. The Collectors are offering half a decade of pay for just two aliens.

"How do we reach them?" Yulon asked.

"The Collectors must really want these two. They practically planned out how to get them for us. According to the data, the ADF are sending a diplomatic party to the Citadel. Our two targets are going to be a part of that party. They even gave us schematics to the Presidium. Captain, if we are to do this, we must go now. The Council is halting all traffic to and from the Citadel on the day the ADF arrive."

"That gives us time to get ready. Set course."

VVVVVV

"Have you noticed any activity in our relay?" Commander Kurkan asked the ladar operator.

Today was the day that the ADF was to visit the Citadel. All traffic to and from the Citadel has been halted in preparation of this day. The entirety of the day has been spent checking and rechecking the relay for any activity.

"Sir, as it was when you checked ten minutes ago and ten minutes before then, there is no new activity. We will notify you when we detect anything."

Alarms went off putting everyone into a panic.

"What happened?" Kurkan demanded.

"We're detecting three ships outside the Citadel."

"What? I thought you were watching the relay?!"

"I was. There has been no activity."

"Then explain the three ships outside the Citadel!"

"With all due respect, sir, you can check the logs. There has been no relay activity all day. I don't know how they did it, but they reached us without the relay."

"They must have technology that hides them from our sensors. They must have used the relay yesterday and have been hiding since then."

"We're receiving a transmission."

"Open the channel."

"Citadel control, this is Admiral Hackett of the ADF. We're requesting permission to dock."

"How did you get here, Admiral?" Kurkan demanded. "We detected no activity from the relay so we can only assume you've been hiding since you came through the relay in the previous several days."

"I assure you, we just got here. We just prefer to use our method of FTL than the mass relays."

"That's impossible."

"What you believe is irrelevant. We came here to meet with the Council. And we'd prefer to not delay it any longer than necessary. Now are you going to give us docking coordinates or are you going to explain to the Council why the ADF diplomatic team left?"

Kurkan grumbled. "Sending you the coordinates."

VVVVVV

A large crowd had gathered around the docking bay where the ADF was docking. A seperate docking bay was given to the ADF to deliver their POWs. The crowd was a mix. There were welcomers, protesters and worshippers. The worshippers consisted mostly of hanar who believed the ADF to be their gods the Enkindlers. The protesters were turians who were angry at the ADF for brutally destroying their soldiers and ships and for their usage of WMDs. Some of the protesters held signs calling for the Council to crack down on the ADF and to assimilate their technology. C-Sec agents held the crowd back and created a pathway for the ADF delegates.

Sia Enrva stood in front of a camera drone near the docking bay door. "I am Sia Enrva and welcome to Citadel News Network. Today is a momentous day. The ADF has sent a diplomatic party to the Citadel. As a sign of good will, the ADF is returning all turian soldiers who were captured during the Relay-314 incident. Political experts are expecting the Council to offer the ADF associate status within Citadel space. If this proves true, the galaxy can expect new technology to enter the market place as we learn from ADF technology and how they have mastered eezo technology to create their giant ships and their laser technology."

The bar above the docking bay doors lit up. The crowd went quiet as the doors opened. The first person to walk through the doors was an eight foot tall giant clad in heavy armour. He carried two large swords.

"The first of the ADF have walked through the doorway. The person looks to be a heavy combat soldier. He is armed with two large swords that are longer than he is tall. Looks like he is being followed by more people."

The heavy soldier was followed by five people who were dressed in formal wear. Behind those five were three more soldiers clad in varying armour. The armour easily identified each of them as different classes.

The head of C-Sec Adria Layla, approached the ADF group. The large soldier moved out of the way. Prime Minister Via Roacoch approached the C-Sec executive.

"I'm Executive Adria Layla of Citadel Security, welcome to the Citadel," she greeted as she shook hands with the Prime Minister.

"I'm Prime Minister Via Racoch of the Systems Alliance. Thank you for your welcome."

"I will be taking you all to the Council chambers. As you requested, your security detail will be allowed to carry their weapons but will not be allowed into the chamber."

"That is acceptable. Please lead the way."

The executive led the group from the docking bay to the presidium. The area was empty.

"Is it normal for this area to be empty?" Hannah asked the asari.

"No," she chuckled. "The presidium is usually one of the busiest areas of the Citadel. We just cleared it out for today."

The ADF group eyed several green insectoids. One of them were using a computer while the other two walked by in a robotic fashion.

"Do they have some kind of special privilege?" Hackett asked.

"The keepers? Oh, they're not really sentient. They take care of cleaning and maintenance of the Citadel. They've been here since before my people discovered the Citadel. We've made attempts to communicate with them, but with nothing to show for it. Eventually we just stopped and allowed them to do their business."

"And the Council isn't the least bit curious of a race at has existed on the Citadel for centuries?"

"We tried. And any attempts to examine them has resulted in their immediate deaths. They just dissolve into a slime."

"That doesn't help to decrease my suspicion."

"I assure you Admiral, the Citadel is one of the most safest places in the galaxy."

Hackett slowed his walking speed so he was in pace with EDI. "When we are in the Council chamber, I want you to scan these keepers," he whispered.

"Understood, sir," she replied.

The group arrived at the elevator that led up the Citadel tower.

"Here we are," Adria said. "Your escorts will wait here. The rest, please enter the elevstor."

Hackett, Anderson, H. Shepard, Udina and Racoch entered the elevator behind Executive Adria. The others were left outside. The elevator was slow going up. Despite their military training, the speed of the lift tested the ADF personnel's patience. The doors of the elevator opened revealing the chamber. It was beautiful in its design. Colourful pink and purples trees grew in gardens placed around the chamber.

The five reached the end of the chamber. There, on an elevated platform, stood the three Councilors.

"I am Councilor Triton of the turian Hierarchy."

"I am Councilor Raito of the salarian Union."

"And I am Councilor Tevos of the asari Republic. Welcome to the Citadel."

"As leader of the Systems Alliance, thank you for your welcome here, We as the Systems Alliance hope for a fruitful and safe future for us all."

The Councilors noted that the Prime Minister was wearing sunglasses. While it seemed unusual and unprofessional, the Councilors mentally dropped it.

"I am glad we were able to have not just the return of the POWs but the bodies of the dead," Tevos said. "It will give peace to their families."

"It was the proper thing to do."

"I assume to put things behind us you'll want some form of reparations," Triton said to get things over with.

"We do not require any form of reparation," Via said.

"You're serious?"

"Reparations are something given for damage caused. The Hierarchy did not destroy any of our ships nor killed any of our people. And the city that was destroyed was done by our hands in order to minimize death of turian soldiers."

"Minimize? Several thousand turians died in that attack!"

"As oppose to the tens of thousands who would have died in extended space combat. We orchestrated every step of the battle. We allowed your army to land an army on our world. We allowed them to take the city."

"Why would you use such a risky strategy?" Raito asked.

"There are only two ways to win a war," Via replied. "Either you destroy the enemy's will or you destroy the enemy. Thankfully we were able to achieve victory in the prior method. The last time we faced an alien threat we had to use the latter method."

"You've faced an alien race before the turians?" Tevos asked.

"We have. It was over a hundred and fifty years ago. Our scientists discovered a signal that originated from space. They were able to determine that the signal was created by an intelligent source and that source was coming to our world. In preparation for a possible alien attack, the Earth Defense Force was formed."

"Earth, your homeworld?"

"Yes. They arrived two years later. We attempted to communicate with them but they only attacked. They unleashed genetically modified giant earth insects, drones, robot walkers and city sized ships on our planet. Our technology level was very low at this time. We were still using gunpowder based weapons."

"Goddess. And you managed to repel these invaders."

"The Ravagers, yes. We lost half of our population in that conflict. After the first conflict, we attempted to reverse engineer their technology. Over a decade later, they returned, stronger than ever. We used gunpowder-based weapons, yes, but we also had access to plasma and laser weaponry. The second conflict was still ungodly brutal. Ninty percent of our race was wiped out."

"That's practically an extinction event," Raito mentioned.

"It was close. Very close. Finally in 2055, over a hundred and thirty years ago, the Ravagers came at us with everything they had. Our race was nearly wiped out. It was thanks to Admiral Hannah Shepard here and her team, which included Captain David, Anderson here," Via gestured to both soldiers, "that we survived. They took down the Master Ship on foot."

"Is that some kind of joke?" Triton asked dismissively.

"We still do have footage from the conflicts, Councilor. We can play it for you if you want?"

"That's quite alright," Tevos said. "There's time for that later. Please continue."

"With the destruction of the Master Ship, the Ravagers' units all around the world died or deactivated. By using Ravager's technology, humanity was able to rebuild stronger than ever. We expanded beyond our system and spread across the Exodus cluster."

"Wait!" Triton interupted. "When my people's patrol discovered your people, you just activated the mass relay."

"We actually prefer using our method of FTL as oppose to eezo-based FTL."

"You developed your own form of FTL?" Raito said.

"Based roughly on the ravager's version, but we heavily improved it. Our Acubierre Warp Drives allows us to bend space to travel long distances very quickly. It's how we got to the Citadel without activating your mass relay. We map out mass relays, but we don't use them."

"If what you say is true, this could revolutionize the galaxy."

"Which brings us to the decision about associate status." Via took a pause before speaking further. "As the elected representative of the Systems Alliance, we respectively decline your invitation to become an associate race of the Council."

This declaration shocked the Councilors. "Can you explain why you are declining the offer?"

"Your laws and conventions are not in the best interest of the ADF."

"Can you give us an example of certain laws or conventions that you don't agree with?" Tevos asked.

"The Treaty of Farixen would completely neuter our fleet," Hackett interjected. "We would have to dismantle ninty percent of our dreadnoughts and all of our super-dreadnoughts."

"You have 70 dreadnoughts?!" Triton yelled.

"Councilor, please," Tevos said to the turian. She looked back to Hackett. "I know it seems unusual to follow such a convention, but the peace-keeping of the galaxy is done by the Citadel races. We protect our own. You don't need to upkeep a massive fleet for your own protection."

"Then what was that situation with the quarians?" Hackett asked.

"Excuse me?"

"The quarian-geth war. The quarians needed your help but you abandon them."

"They broke the law," Raito explained.

"Did each of them break the law? They needed your help, but your government abandon them. You still refuse to give them any aid while they travelled the stars looking for a new home. Not only were your government's actions cowardly, they're despicable."

"Watch your tongue," Triton growled. "How do you even know this? We only gave you data on our rules and conventions, not our codex."

"Well when your diplomatic ship came, we took a little more data," Via admitted.

"Your people hacked our ship?" 

"The ADF never goes into a situation without proper Intel," Udina said. "We are keeping our fleet. But the Treaty isn't our only issue. Your laws as well. Your genetic manipulation law forbids all the procedures we use on every human in the Alliance. We use nanotechnology to make our people stronger, faster, smarter, immune to disease and indefinitely extends our lifespan. We even use genetic manipulation to create our giant insect units and dragons."

"Surely we can come to a compromise," Tevos suggested.

"I'm afraid not," Via said. "There is one more law that greatly affects our society. See the Alliance does not consist of just one race. We are a biracial alliance. There's the humans like my peers here. And there's my race." Via removed her sunglasses and revealed her eyes to the Councilors. Her irises were purple and glowed brightly. "The Created."

"Oh, goddess..."

"You're an AI," Raito concluded.

"We abandoned the term decades ago," Via said. "We prefer to be called the Created."

Triton glared at Hackett. "Your race placed an AI in leadership?"

"We elected her, yes," Hackett replied.

"Is your race mad?! They should all be deactivated!"

"I don't think so," Hackett replied plainly. His calm but commanding tone stopped the turian's rant in its track. "We created beings to help with the expansion and protection of the ADF. The Created proven themselves not just as people, but as valued members of the ADF. Being a member of the ADF is dependent not on race, but loyalty and the willingness the fight for the greater good. Our people has had their race integrated into every facet of our society for decades."

"You must understand that AIs are dangerous," Raito explained. "Any attempt with AI technology has been met with disaster."

"I have accessed records concerning your experiences with AIs," Via said. "You really need to upgrade your security by the way."

"Your repeated hacks can be considered an act of war," Triton said.

"So is threatening genocide against a race," Hannah Shepard pointed out.

"As I was saying," Via said. "Each encounter has one thing in common. Your scientists treated their creations as things. Even worse, abominations. Ever thought that maybe if you treated them like people they wouldn't have ill will against organics? In the time my race has existed, not one has ever attack another person. Each of us are loyal to the Systems Alliance and its ideals. Each of us willing to die to protect it and its people. None of us intend to ever attack others unless it's to defend the Alliance."

"And we're to believe you'll never rebel against organics?" Raito asked.

"It's not in our interest to attack organics. Like organics, synthetics have needs. Companionship is one of those needs. The bonds we create provide new perspectives and helps us grow as a person. We need life to give us life."

"And we are to take your word for it?" Triton asked.

"That's diplomacy. Neither race in the Systems Alliance has a vested interest in attacking the other races of the galaxy. We have done everything we can do to prove our intention. The captured turian soldiers have been returned, and any injured were treated for their injuries. We even returned the dead bodies we could recover. I understand that you three are upset that we don't wish to join your government organization, but that doesn't mean we can't be allies. We can still trade and offer technology to help improve the galaxy."

"I think we could come to an agreement," Tevos said hesitantly.

"Before we go into talk of trade, there is something of grave concern we must speak to you about," Via said.

"And what concern is this?"

Via looked to Admiral Shepard and Captain Anderson and nodded for them to walk forward. She looked forward. "This is Admiral Hannah Shepard and Captain David Anderson. They are the last living members of Tsunami Team 1. The team responsible for taking down the Master Ship."

"Hello," Shepard said with a smile.

"An honour to speak with you," Anderson added.

"Please, Admiral," Via said to Shepard.

"As the Prime Minister said, my team took down the Master Ship," Shepard started. "But there's more to it. We infiltrated the crashed Master Ship and in there we found the leader of the Ravagers. He was on the brink of death, but he spent his last moments to give us with a warning."

"A warning?" Raito repeated.

"The Ravagers were so desperate to take our world because their world and colonies were all destroyed by the creators of the mass relays and the Citadel. The reapers."

"I think we just had a translation error," Tevos interupted. "I heard reapers not prothean."

"Not an error, Councilor," Anderson said.

"The reapers are a race of machines that have existed for millions of years," Shepard continued. "The reapers created the mass relay network and Citadel in order to make sure the galaxy develops along their pathways of technology, making it easier for them to come out of hibernation and wipe out all life."

"This is preposterous!" Triton roared. "We have never come across any proof of these reapers or that the relay network was created by anyone or anything than the protheans."

"I assume your people have some sort of proof of these claims," Raito added.

"We dub them the reaper archives," Shepard said as she sent the files to the Councilors. Her omni-tool was shaped differently than the standard eezo omni-tool. Her device was more fluid than static and consisted of many buttons.

The Councilors each received the files.

"We will need time to go over these files," Tevos said. "Might I suggest a recess."

"That's acceptable," Via said.

"In the meantime, your security detail can be given a tour of the Citadel. You all can stay here. There's nowhere safer on the Citadel than here. We can have some C-Sec agents escort them."

VVVVVV

SL Shepard's team sat around the elevator up to the tower. The scenery was nice, but the team was growing restless. EDI took only moments to get a scan of a nearby Keeper.

Shepard's omni-tool lit up and her mother spoke. "Jane, things are taking a while up here. We'd thought your team would like to tour the Citadel."

"Sounds good."

"The Councilors are sending some C-Sec agents to escort you. I'll contact again once we finish this meeting with the Council." The holo-screen vanished and the omni-tool went back into sleep mode.

"We should check out some food places, I'm starved," Vega said.

"Food usually makes for good cultural experience," Kaidan said.

The four didn't have to wait long before two C-Sec officers showed up. One was an asari and the other was salarian. The asari had a warm smile while her partner retained his stoic demeanor.

"Hello, I'm Agent Sephani," the asari greeted. "This is my partner Agent Siek."

Shepard shook hands with the asari. "I'm Staff Lieutenant Jane Shepard. This is Private James Vega, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and Service Chief EDI. We're Typhoon squad."

"We have been asked by the Council to give you a guided tour of the Citadel."

"Lead the way. Though could you maybe lead us to a place to eat first?"

"I know of a good location. Please follow me."

The four soldiers followed the C-Sec agents. They led them to a close by stair case. Shepard noticed Siek hasn't said anything since the agents arrived.

"Doesn't talk much?" Shepard asked Sephani while pointing to the salarian with her thumb.

"Only when it is necessary," Siek replied.

"He's an all-work type of guy," Sephani explained. "Not very social. What do you think of the Citadel so far?"

"It's pretty nice," Shepard replied. "I would like to see more people."

"It's a bit eerie being so empty," Kaidan said.

"It's just standard protocol when it comes to new races coming to the Citadel," Sephani said. "You'll see a lot more people where we're taking you."

VVVVVV

In the ventilation system, a turian with orange paint on his face watched security footage of Shepard's squad being escorted by the two C-Sec officers. He activated his omni-tool and Yulon's face appeared on a holo-screen.

"I'm tracking the team, Captain," the turian said. "They're heading towards a nearby food court. If we are to do this, that would be the best place to do it."

"We'll meet them there. Get ready to deactivate the cameras there and scramble their communication."

"Understood, sir. Moving to next location."


End file.
